


Company of a Stranger

by Markov_Debris



Series: Company Series [10]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Between Seasons/Series, Crossover, Gen, M/M, Spoilers for Series, Temporal Paradox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-19 15:19:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 61
Words: 64,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12412824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Markov_Debris/pseuds/Markov_Debris
Summary: After the disaster aboard the Starship Titanic, the Doctor finds himself in a place and time he is not meant to be in.  Ianto comes home soon after Jack disappeared to find a known stranger in his house.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written before Kaleidoscope by Sarah Pinborough (in the Consequences Anthology) came out and it is my take on what happens in the wake of Jack's disappearance.  
> This story has a companion story Company of a Ghost which is set during the Year that Never Was. I will be creating two additional series for these stories, one of which will be so that you can read these stories in chronological order for the Doctor if you wish.  
> The other reason is because Company of a Ghost will have archive warnings that some people might not want to read. There will be a one off story published after Company of a Ghost so that readers do not miss out on the explanations. There is also the matter of the Epilogue of Company of a Stranger, which is really an epilogue for both stories. Events in the Epilogue are directly linked to events in another story so I will use the series links to make following the series in chronological order clearer (all will be explained and understood later (I hope)). Plus there is a one-shot linked to these stories.  
> I hope that wasn't too confusing and I hope you enjoy the story.

The Doctor didn’t really pay any attention to the coordinates he set.  He just wanted to be somewhere else, he wanted to lose himself in another adventure.

 _Astrid_ , the name echoed in his mind.  Her smile, her shy excitement.  He had wanted her to see the universe with him but she had instead sacrificed her life for him, and the only alien sky she had ever seen.

He was so alone.  For a brief moment he had someone to share with again but it seemed to be his destiny to be the lonely traveller, the last.

The Doctor had known before he asked that Jack was not coming with him.  The Captain had endured more that could have been asked for.  Now he needed to recover, he needed the one kind of healing the Time Lord was unable to give.

He had also known that Martha wasn’t going to stay.  While involving less torture than Jack had experienced, the medical student’s family had been in danger, suffering, for the whole year and they needed her, they meant more to her than the Doctor did.  That was as it should be.

He hadn’t meant to look for someone else afterwards but Astrid just shone.  Now she was stardust, another soul gone and he was alone.

He went to change out of his hated tuxedo and into his favourite brown suit.  As he wandered back into the console room it took him a few minutes to realise all the panels were dead.

In high panic he raced around.  The TARDIS was still very much alive but she was not responding.

They had landed but she wasn’t saying where.  She had locked him out of every control.  No amount of coaxing would get him any information beyond the fact that the outside environment was safe for him.

Resigned to the whims of his stubborn TARDIS the Doctor grabbed his coat and opened the doors.

He was inside a tidy living room.  He put his coat back in the TARDIS and went to scout out more information.

Calling out a few times told him he was alone before he saw the several days worth of post stacked behind the door.  He bent down to pick it up.

They were all addressed to a Mr I Jones and most of them seemed to be bills.  He put them back as he wasn’t sure what the best way to be discovered was, with the TARDIS not moving he had to stay put.

A sudden suspicion made him need to know the date.  He returned to the lounge and turned on the TV.  This one had Sky and he was immediately looking at the program guide and staring at the date.

“No it can’t be,” the Time Lord exclaimed in horror.

He turned the TV off and headed straight back to the TARDIS.  There were certain placed at certain times where, if not actually forbidden, were certainly unhealthy places to visit.

He spent hours talking, tinkering and persuading his TARDIS to power up her panels so that they could leave but she refused.  It wasn’t until he felt a warning echo of pain that he realised she had dumped him here for a reason.

He hoped it was a good reason because there was no way he should be in Britain while Harold Saxon was making his bid for parliamentary power.

According to the TV it was a few days after Jack had sent the TARDIS to the end of the universe and a several months before he met Martha Jones.  He couldn’t afford to be found by the Master and shouldn’t be allowed near the temptation to interfere with events that had already happened.

He modified the perception filter on his TARDIS key.  He knew the Archangel network intimately now, knew how to hide completely from its creator.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS again safe in the knowledge that he was hidden.  Yet when he heard the car pull up outside he wondered how much a person stayed unnoticed when they were invading the privacy of a home.

The key turned in the front door and the Time Lord had a moment of panic wondering what the best way to introduce himself was.

He was standing in front of his TARDIS looking stupidly stunned when a young man with dark hair entered.  The reaction he got was not one that he ever expected.

The young man looked at him, looked at the TARDIS.  He saw brilliant hope shine in those blue eyes.  No one looking at him for the first time had ever looked at him that way before.

The way the young man’s began to look around confirmed the Doctor’s theory that he was really looking hopeful for someone else.

The Doctor saw hope die in those eyes.  They became immediately dead and the Doctor recognised both the young man and who he was looking for.

The human walked past him ignoring him and went into the kitchen.  The Time Lord knew that was definitely not something you did when you found a stranger in your house.

He went into the kitchen and was in time for Mr Jones to set a cup of tea down in front of him.  It was delicious and he had sipped at some of the best tea in the galaxy.

The young man raised his own cup to his lips but didn’t sip.  His nose wrinkled as though he smelt something rank and he threw the beverage, cup and all into the sink.

The Doctor stood startled but Mr Jones didn’t even look at him.  The Time Lord wondered if it was the perception filter but knew in his heart that it wasn’t.

The young man went upstairs and the Doctor could hear the sound of bathwater running.  He sat back down and sipped his tea wondering what to do.

It was true he recognised the young man.  He was one of Jack’s Torchwood people.  The Doctor had seen him die at the hands of the Master but they had changed that, Mr Jones had a chance of life with Jack so why had the TARDIS brought him here, now.

The Time Lord wandered around looking at the house.  He had nothing better to do and wasn’t sure how the young man would react to him going up to talk to him.

He heard the bathroom door close and decided as he seemed to have free range to snoop so he might as well have a gander at the upstairs.

He was just passing the bathroom door when he heard a loud crash.

“Are you alright?” the Time Lord called out banging on the door.

There was no answer and no sound of splashing water.  The door was bolted shut but a quick shove or two wrenched the lock free.

The noise had been caused by a book being thrown across the room.  The scandal against literature was not as important as the sight of the young man completely immersed in water.

He hauled Mr Jones out of the water.  He didn’t struggle, he didn’t acknowledge the help as the Time Lord made sure he was still breathing.

The Doctor carried the naked human into the bedroom and dumped him by the bed.  The eyes were not just emotionally dead they were glassy.

The Time Lord had seen that look in the young man before, just before he died, during the year that never was.

If he hadn’t been there the human would have drowned and the year that never was could have become the only future of the universe.


	2. Chapter Two

The young human didn’t move.  The Doctor dried him off a little and tucked him up in the duvet on his bed.

Not entirely sure what to do but he decided to darken the room.  He hoped the young man would soon come out from whatever corner of his mind he had chosen to hide in.

There was a chair and the Doctor sat and waited.  He wanted to pace, move around but he had the impression that Mr Jones would know, so he remained still.

After an hour of waiting the Welshman stirred.  He turned over onto his side.  It was only the unbearable silence of the room that let the Doctor hear the quiet sobbing.

The Time Lord waited until the young man had cried himself to sleep before silently leaving the room.

Part of the Doctor wanted to leave right then.  He did not do domestic.  He did not deal with heartbroken young men, especially not when he was the cause.

He felt a little hypocritical.  It never bothered him once when he took Rose into the stars and away from Mickey.

He had come to like Mickey later on.  He wasn’t as fearless as Rose but he was brave and not as much of an idiot as the Doctor had told him he was.

They hadn’t spent long travelling together but the Time Lord had come to respect him.  He wasn’t entirely shocked when he chose to stay behind in the parallel world.  The Doctor had also been so proud when he met the young man in Canary Wharf fending off Cybermen and Daleks.

Mr Jones had been at Canary Wharf too.  It was one of the few things he knew about the man but they hadn’t met there.  The Time Lord hadn’t cared about any of Torchwood’s survivors at the time.

 _Ianto_ , the Doctor’s idle flicking through of the young man’s papers had finally produced a first name.  It didn’t make things any better.

With Rose, the Doctor had briefly met Mickey before offering her time and space.  He had also met her mother.  Not even the slap in the face made him feel guilty for taking her travelling, only for getting his dates mixed up afterwards.

He supposed with Ianto Jones it was different.  It wasn’t just that he had taken the Welshman’s lover, he was responsible for him having that lover in the first place.

Captain Jack Harkness, ex-Time Agent, intergalactic heartthrob, companion to the Doctor turned into immortal fixed point in time and space.  One day he was destined to be a giant head in a jar.

Right here and now, in this time and place he wasn’t supposed to be in, the Doctor had just stolen Captain Jack Harkness away.  He wasn’t going to return him for months and only after a year of hell.

Ianto Jones had two futures ahead of him.  One the Doctor had lived through and reset so it never was, the other in which Jack returned to Torchwood.

A shiver ran through him.  It was like meeting a historical figure knowing their fate and being unable to prevent it.  Even though it was a history he had prevented, he still knew.

He had witnessed the death of Ianto Jones, witnessed him being tortured.  There had been strength in him, defiance, he had...

The Time Lord understood now why the TARDIS had brought him here.  The question was, was he responsible for the fact that Ianto almost drowned or was he here to prevent that too.

The Doctor was inclined to think the former.  It was that momentary look of hope, he had been looking for Jack but Jack was in his future.

Hope could be such a terrible emotion sometimes.

The Time Lord’s own hopes had been so recently shattered when he had realised that the teleport system gave him the chance to save Astrid.  Only there was not enough power and too much damage, he could only make stardust.

With Ianto it had all been too much and the young man’s mind just left.  Just like he had left before he was tortured.

Ianto’s body endured pain without him.  His parting words had given Jack hope to continue through the rest of the Master’s torments.

The Doctor knew without checking that the TARDIS would not be able to take off.  Not when there was a potential paradox to prevent.

This wasn’t his normal territory.  Rose had always been good at this sort of thing and Martha and Astrid.

The Time Lords mind flickered back to the events aboard the Starship Titanic.  All those people he couldn’t save.

He sat back against the door of the TARDIS and closed his eyes.  _I don’t know what to do,_ he told her, _I don’t know how to save him._

 


	3. Chapter Three

The Doctor heard Ianto Jones stir just after five in the morning.  He heard the bathroom door opening, water from last night’s bath gurgle away, the toilet flush and the shower start.

A quick look told him that the young man had left the bathroom door open.  It wasn’t something most people normally do, even when alone, which meant he was aware of what had almost happened last night.

The shower was over quickly and the Time Lord ducked back inside the lounge before the Welshman could emerge.  He had gone into the TARDIS briefly a few hours ago to change his suit when he realised how damp his other one had gotten.

When he emerged Ianto was wearing a pinstripe suit, grey shirt and dark blue tie.  He looked impeccable and unemotional.

Again the Doctor was ignored as the Welshman went into the kitchen.  He wasn’t used to someone being aware of him and not paying him any attention.

He knew Ianto knew he was there because again he was brought a delicious cup of tea.  He was also made some toast and offered a choice of toppings.

The young man surveyed the Marmite and Jams and chose to have his toast plain.  He also gave up on it after a few bites.

The Welshman left the kitchen and finished getting ready for work.  He waited for the Doctor to follow him out of the house and locked up after him.

He also waited by the car for the Doctor to get in.  It was not the way he was usually treated.  The combination of silent courtesy and being ignored was certainly novel.

Ianto drove them down towards the bay.  The Doctor took the opportunity in the silence to stare out of the window.

He was so used to a fast paced life of running that being driven in pre-dawn traffic seemed like a cross between a novelty event and plain boring.  It was different, a change and exactly what he felt like right now.

The human parked the car and again waited for the Time Lord.  He led them towards a rundown looking tourist office and let them both in.

He picked up the post and put it behind the desk.  He then picked something and handed it to the Doctor.

“You’d better wear this.  It’s a non-hostile visitor’s pass.  It’s used for visitors that Jack would prefer other people know nothing about.  Your perception filter protects you from people seeing you, that one will help you hide from the security cameras,” he said efficiently.  It was the first thing he had directly said to the Time Lord.

“What makes you think I’m non-hostile?”

“Oh I know you’re a dangerous man Doctor.  Dangerous to your friends and even more dangerous to your enemies.

“Between Gwen saying Jack was waiting for the right kind of Doctor and him running after you like you’re a long lost lover it isn’t difficult to know his opinion of you.  I am merely extending to you the level of courtesy he would expect you to be given,” he answered hoarsely getting closer.

The whole time he looked into the Doctor’s eyes.  There were very few beings, even before the fall of Gallifrey, that could stand to look in his eyes for long.

Yet Ianto Jones did.  Those blue orbs no longer dead but burning like fire, alive and deadly.

Beneath the Welshman’s gaze he suddenly felt naked.  Like his soul was being looked at and examined like a bug beneath a slide.

Then the Doctor noticed pain in those eyes and had to close his own.  It wasn’t that he was afraid of seeing Ianto’s pain but he had the feeling the pain in those eyes was his own.

There was the Welshman’s warmth close to him.  He shrank back because he wanted to press forward, wanted a sliver of comfort in contact.

He couldn’t, not with this young man, not with what happened. The Doctor felt relieved when the warmth didn’t follow, didn’t touch him.

“You’re a dangerous man Doctor but you’re not an evil monster,” the heavy accented voice caressed his ear.

Then suddenly the warmth withdrew.  He felt naked, exposed on a field of ice.

He heard no footfalls but a scraping sound made him open his eyes.  The door to the secret entrance to the Hub stood open and Ianto Jones stood impassively by it waiting for him to enter.

He moved to follow and Ianto turned away.  He let out a full body shudder but didn’t stop moving as he was led into the Hub.


	4. Chapter Four

“You know, not that I don’t appreciate it but I don’t usually enter top secret establishments this freely.  I don’t even have your word that you won’t suddenly decide to lock me up and experiment on me,” the Doctor told Ianto as the lift doors open and the Welshman stepped out.

The young man paused to get something out of his pocket and then turned to toss it at the Time Lord.  It was a set of handcuffs.

There was no smile on that young face as he turned back to the door.  The alien looked down sadly and pocketed the cuffs.

After checking that he didn’t want any tea the Welshman led him away from the main hub and up some stairs.  It was a very long climb but it was obviously a familiar one.

Ianto went into a small room with lockers and a bench.  There were also a couple of shower cubicles behind a partition.

The room’s appearance and removal of his jacket were the only warning Ianto gave before stripping off.  The Doctor turned away wondering if the perception filter was the cause of the Welshman occasionally ignoring or forgetting he was there.

A set of wellies and a long lab coat were thrust at him.  The young man was now wearing boots, fishing waders and a protective jacket.

“You should put these on if you’re going to follow me while I muck out the pterodactyl,” Ianto said gently.

“You’ve got a pterodactyl?” the Doctor said incredulously.  Ianto rolled his eyes.

“No,” the Welshman replied dashing his hopes. “It’s really a pteranodon,” he said and stepped back while the Doctor excitedly changed his coat and shoes.

The Time Lord was disappointed to find the eyrie empty.  The young man obviously expected that as he trundled a wheelbarrow and shovel in.

The Doctor went to stand at the pteranodon’s entrance and looked across the huge Hub.  It was old and even from this distance the changes of architecture and use were visible.

He turned back to look at Ianto.  The Welshman was shovelling away with all the intensity and concentration he had put into his stare in the Tourist Office.

As a Time Lord he could see all of space and time.  He tried not to usually because it took all the joy of discovery out of life.  This close to the rift however, close to energies similar to the vortex and his ship’s own it was more difficult.  Especially as Jack had been here disturbing those energies with his presence.

Unbidden as he watched an echo of the past pushed itself into his awareness.  This job was a familiar routine to the human but not on one day.

The Doctor could hear the echo of Jack’s voice calling the young man’s name before the ghost of his past self entered.  He admired the view Ianto presented for a few minutes before asking.

“Whatcha doing?”

“I’m conducting an experiment to make a new form of facial mud.  I’m hoping it will take decades off a person.  It will be a high price range beauty product and will make me incredibly rich.  Would you like to be my first test subject?” Ianto deadpanned without stopping.

Jack stared at him uncertain what to say.  He just continued to watch as the young man manoeuvred manure into the wheelbarrow.

“I don’t remember this being in your list of jobs,” the immortal said after a while.

“I was a little miffed by your preferences when I gave you the list and we hadn’t manage to catch her at that time,” Ianto pointed out.

The Captain took a step closer, then a sudden step back as Ianto straightened and began to wheel the barrow towards the door.   The Welshman ducked out and came back with some straw which he began to spread around.

“Still that doesn’t mean you should be the only one to clean her out.  Or the prisoners,” Jack said quietly stepping closer.

“The rest of you have more important things to do than worry feeding and cleaning.  And that was in my job description Sir,” Ianto replied turning around to face him.

They were inches apart and that intense stare was turned on Jack.  It wasn’t edged with hardness this time.

“You don’t have to call me Sir.  Everyone else calls me Jack,” the Captain said quietly moving closer.

“I’m not sure that would be appropriate Sir.”

“No?”

“No,” Ianto confirmed.

The centimetre between their lips was all there was when a screech filled the heady silence.  The Doctor witnessing from the future tried not to jump as the pterodactyl entered through him in the past.

As Jack instantly turned to the dinosaur he didn’t see the mixture of relief, pain and disappointment that crossed Ianto’s face.  The Welshman turned to leave for a moment and came back with some meat.

He watched the Captain pet the pterodactyl as though she was a dog calling her a good girl.  Again that mixed look flashed in the Welshman’s eyes and somehow his presence seemed to diminish.

“Would you like to help me feed her Sir?” Ianto asked after watching for several minutes.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Jack said to the prehistoric creature.

“I’m sure your Myfanwy will love it sir,” Ianto informed him without a hint of sarcasm.

Jack gave the pteranodon a last scratch and walked over to the Welshman.  The Captain’s gaze was the intent one this time but the young man’s eyes did not rise to look at them.

“Thank you Ianto,” he said taking some of the meat to throw to the dinosaur he was now calling Myfanwy.

This time it was Ianto who didn’t see the look.  The longing, disappointment and sadness that flickered in Captain Jack Harkness’ eyes.

“You might want to come away from there.  I’m about to whistle for her to return.  She’s been a bit skittish ever since we opened the Rift,” Ianto’s voice, the present Ianto’s voice, lanced through the echo of the past.


	5. Chapter Five

The Doctor blinked, smiled and came over to where the Welshman was standing with a bucket of meat covered in an orange sauce.

“Can I help you feed her?” he asked eagerly.

Ianto muttered something about twelve year old Time Lords but said aloud, “there are glovers in your pocket.”  The young man then let out a series of whistles and braced himself

The Doctor pulled them on just before the pteranodon swooped into the eyrie.  She was magnificent creature, not as frightening as the last time he had encountered one of her species.

Ianto threw meat from the bucket to her and she gulped it playfully like a heron.  The Doctor grabbed some meat himself and threw it at her and laughed loudly as she caught it.

The rest of the meat Ianto put in a trough for her.  He threw a few more morsels at her and backed towards the door the Time Lord following suit.

The prehistoric bird suddenly reared up flapping her wings at them alarmingly.  The Doctor wanted to grab onto the Welshman and reassure him that it would be okay.

Before he could the human sighed deeply.  He heard the snap of rubber gloves being removed carefully and put down.

“Puppy dog pterodactyl’s,” Ianto muttered and stepped within the giant wingspan.

Ianto began rubbing at the dinosaur’s body the same way you would at a dog or cat, the same way Jack had done in the echo from the past.  The Welshman was petting and cooing and the creature responded.

The Doctor felt a pang of sympathy.  He could go back to the late Cretaceous period and see hundreds but right now this one was out of its time, the last it its kind like him.  Like him it was using a human being to bring him comfort.

Ianto gave another whistle when he had finished rubbing the flying lizard bird.  Myfanwy backed out of the eyrie and took off to fly across the Hub.

The Time Lord returned to the lip to look out over the edge once more.  It looked huge and part of him itched to explore it, to see what else they had and shouldn’t.

A polite cough made his turn back.  Ianto Jones stood by the door in his suit once more.  He was holding the Doctor’s coat and had a fresh showered smell.

The doctor ducked into the changing area to remove the protective clothing he had borrowed and wash his hands.  The young man was waiting politely for him as he emerged.

They travelled down the stairs.  It was not a hurried pace but they did travel deeper into the Hub than the main entrance.

Ianto lead him to another locker room.  This one obviously belonged to the team.  The Welshman put his own coat away then went to an empty, out of the way locker.

He held a hand out to take the Doctor’s coat and hung it in the empty locker.  He then gave the alien the key.

 “You might want to go up and wait for me in the main Hub,” he said softly as he led them out of the locker room.

“Why?” the Doctor asked

“I have to feed the prisoners.  It might make you feel uncomfortable being near Torchwood cells,” the Welshman answered.

The Time Lord looked him coldly in the eyes.  The young man didn’t flinch he just nodded and led them deeper.

There was a small kitchen where Ianto prepared several meals into metal bowls.  He used a dumbwaiter to send most of them down to the next level.  The Welshman led the Doctor to a corridor of metal security doors.  In silence he exchanged empty bowls for full ones through the food slots.

It wasn’t until they reached the next level that the Doctor felt that he had to ask the question.

“Why does Torchwood keep prisoners?”

Ianto turned and raised an eyebrow at him.  The Time Lord could tell that the young man heard Jack were he said Torchwood.

“Most aliens who come here do so by accident.  The get caught in the rift and Cardiff is where they end up.  If they come in ships we ask them to leave or we help them make repairs so they can leave.

“So far we haven’t come across a full scale war fleet bent on invasion but I imagine we would do what we can to defend the planet.  It is probably more UNIT’s department considering the scale but I know we would help,” there was an edge to his voice.

He hadn’t stopped moving from cell to cell, floor to floor delivering meals.  These words made his pause for a moment and close his eyes.

 _He’s thinking of Canary Wharf,_ the Doctor thought.  He remembered with the Cybermen and then Daleks in the street the armed forces couldn’t get near the Torchwood Tower, they had been alone.

“Mostly they don’t seem to have ships and no means to get back.  With the non-hostile ones we have a sort of immigration scheme.

“Those that can blend in we find homes and sometimes jobs for in Cardiff.  Those that can’t, well there are more than just cannibals in the Welsh hillside,” the way he said it spoke of personal experience.

It also signalled the last of the meals being delivered.  He went to a bathroom to wash his hands them lead the Doctor through corridors to what he suspected was the other side of the cells.

“Hostile aliens are more frequent than the non-hostile ones.  Occasionally they can be reasoned with but not always.

“We try to capture if we can but that isn’t always possible.  We have to think of the lives of the ordinary citizens.

“Those we cannot take alive end up in the morgue.  Those we do end up in the cells,” Ianto concluded as he lead the Time Lord onto a corridor of glass walls.

The Doctor was right this was the other side of the cells.  It reminded him of that scene in Silence of the Lambs were the FBI agent met Hannibal Lector.  Ironically it was the only scene of that film he had ever actually seen.

He looked at the alien behind the fake glass.  It had rough dark skin and looked like an animal.  It bore its fangs when it saw Ianto but the Welshman gave it a hard look and it backed down.

It was stooped so that its true height was hidden.  The blue boiler suit looked wrong on it and yet suited it at the same time.

“Fascinating,” the Doctor whispered.

The creature came towards him then gave out a strange keening sound.  The Time Lord looked at the Welshman who seemed mildly surprised but more by the fact that it moved to the side of the cell where he was standing.

“You’ve never seen one before?” Ianto asked.

The question took him by surprise.  It was the first non beverage related question the Welshman had been asked.  There were more important questions that should have come first but those were personal, this was a work related question.

“No I haven’t,” the Doctor confirmed wanting to get closer but realise that he was disturbing the creature.

“We call them Weevils.  They come through the rift and have colonies in the sewers.   Mostly they stay there but sometimes they come out.  We try to herd them back or catch them.”

“Catch them?  So you run experiments on them?” he asked darkly.

“We run the sort of standard medical tests any human might receive from their doctors on most of the aliens we come across.  Weevils we study more because we come across a lot of them.

“Most we send back to the sewers.  Janet here and the others, they’re killers,” Ianto said looking soulfully at the creature behind the glass.

“You don’t like keeping them caged,” the Time Lord said and the young man looked at him.

He then turned ignoring the question.  The Doctor understood that it wasn’t the question that was irrelevant but he felt his answer was.

“Where are we going?” he asked following.

“The Archives.”


	6. Chapter Six

“I might be a non-hostile alien friend of Jack’s but I’m pretty sure I’m not meant to be given free range of the Archives,” the Doctor said following the Welshman as he led them further down.

“You’re not meant to be here period so I don’t see what difference it makes.  Just don’t take anything because I will have to write that you did on the archive records and I really don’t want to justify letting you do so on paper,” Ianto replied continuing to walk were the alien had stopped.

The Doctor ran a little way to catch up with his guide and spun him around.

“How do you know I’m not meant to be here?” he asked.

“There are many reasons for you to be wearing a perception filter.  The way Janet reacted to you though... Jack... he believed the Weevils are time sensitive.  Perhaps that’s how they navigate safely through the rift. 

“Or maybe it isn’t that safe and they are the way they are because the rift mutates them,” he paused to think then shrugged and looked back at the Doctor.

“You’re a Time Lord and while you can be anywhere in time and space I imagine that you’d fit otherwise you’d be wrong and paradoxical.  Janet shouldn’t have reacted that way to you unless, Doctor this is a time and place you are not meant to be in,” Ianto informed him.

“You seem to know an awful lot about who and what I am Ianto Jones,” the Time Lord said coldly.

Ianto rolled his eyes and said, “I worked in the research and archiving department at Canary Wharf and you were there number one enemy.  I really cannot think how I could have possibly found out anything about you when you’re so mysterious.   It isn’t as though I could have rifled through your things.” there was an edge of sarcasm but no amusement behind it.

“What you know about me Doctor is far more fascinating.  You know I was at Canary Wharf, but you were nowhere near Cyber Conversion during the battle or afterwards.

“Jack wouldn’t have told you.  Guessing how you feel, he wouldn’t have told you he worked for Torchwood unless he had no other choice.

“No matter how different things are here to there, there is no way he would have mentioned that he was now employing one of the Tower’s tainted.  So either you decided on a whim to look up our records in the future or one of us, no, I told you,” the Welshman was just looking at him again with those eyes that saw deep inside.

“And that is interesting.  You knew I worked at Canary Wharf but you didn’t know my name until you looked through my stuff.  They’re just little temporal inconsistencies that suggest you shouldn’t be here and you don’t know why you are.”

The Doctor stood stunned as the young man turned and continued to walk.  Again the Time Lord bounced the short distance between and turned him around.

“You do realise that as an alien I don’t think and feel the way you humans do,” he stated wanting that to be quite clear.

“I’m sure it’s a mercy the universe is most grateful for,” there was no sarcasm only sincerity in Ianto’s voice.  “It means you can look at a pteranodon or Weevil with equal wonder and curiosity and look at me in fear.  Most people it would be the other way round but I think you have it right.” He gave the Time Lord a small smile that didn’t touch his eyes and continued on his way.

“If I fear you why am I still following you?” he asked.

“You’re not a man who lets fear stop you easily.  I know there are more frightening things than me in the universe.  Besides your fear of me isn’t likely to be a physical one,” Ianto answered without looking back.

There was nothing to say when the man was right.  The Doctor followed mostly because Ianto had already done his worst.

_You’re a dangerous man, but you’re not an evil monster._

It was like being forgiven by your victim before you slice their throat with a blade.  The only consolation the Doctor has was that Ianto hadn’t done it for him.  He benefited certainly, but Ianto had made his sacrifice for Jack.

He wasn’t sure he could do this.  He couldn’t follow this broken young man around knowing one of the fates he was to endure. ,He couldn’t, not knowing what had already been done to him and being unable to intervene.  It wasn’t as though there was anything he could really do to help anyway.

The Doctor was decided.  He would stay with Ianto until he went home.  Then he would go to his TARDIS and leave.

He probably should go now before the rest of Jack’s team arrive but he was curious to see them.  Also he was finding the danger of being discovered, hidden in the middle of a Torchwood base a little thrilling.

Ianto lead him past dimly lit shelves full of boxes, the things Torchwood had collected over the century.  The Doctor knew he should disapprove but it was better than having them available to the populous.

The shelves were a maze and he had to wonder in what ways they were catalogued.  There was the silence amongst them reserved for libraries.

The Doctor was almost surprised when they stopped.  Ianto turned on a desk lamp and a stand up lamp to reveal a small alcove with a desk, computer and printer.

Ianto turned the machine on and pulled out a PDA from his pocket.  He checked through some hand written notes on his desk and put on some white cotton gloves while the computer warmed up.

He made the Doctor look away as he entered his passwords and got to the section of the archive database he needed to download.  He then sent the computer to sleep and led them back through the shelves.

The Welshman pulled the next box from his list and began to look inside.  He pulled out a highly decorated octagonal box.

“What is it?” the Doctor asked.

“According to the records it’s a musical box for a race whose sense of acoustics is incompatible to our own,” the young man replied.

He looked the object over carefully making sure the specifications matched those on record.  He didn’t bother to activate and gave the Time Lord a warning glance to say he wasn’t to either.

“You’re right there it looks Ordien, Tentoc era,” the Doctor told him.

The Welshman gave him a look, asked him to spell Ordien and Tentoc and noted this information, and the source on his PDA.  The Time Lord looked sheepishly at him but the human just sighed and put the musical box away.

It continued like that for some time.  The young man would tell him what the archives said it was, if the box turned out to have the correct content, and the Doctor would tell him what he knew.

Then the PDA gave a beep.  Ianto headed back to his hidden alcove and woke the computer up long enough to down load the information back into it and deposit any wrongly filed item on a shelf.

“The team are just about to arrive would you like another cup of tea?” Ianto asked as he led them out of the maze and towards the main Hub.

 

 

 

 


	7. Chapter Seven

The Doctor’s first look at the Hub was not really what he expected.  It was large, rather untidy and smelt of damp.

It had a secretive, bat-cave feel to it, exactly what you’d expect from a top secret organisation like Torchwood.  It wasn’t at all what he expected from a place associated with Jack.

The Doctor held the time he spent travelling with Jack and Rose in great affection.  The man was larger than life, vibrant and shining for all the dark secrets he held.

Through most of his time in the Master’s chains Jack had done his best to be the insolent loud prisoner.  That had only been silenced for a while after Ianto died.  After which it seemed even more false than it was before.

Seeing the Hub laid bear the how much Jack was faking his personality.  How much his hundred years wait had warn him down.

He was roused from his thoughts by the sound of an alarm.  He looked around for Ianto but the Welshman was nowhere to be seen.

The source of the alarm was the large cogwheel door he had entered through a few hours earlier.  He was out in the open with no place to hide as the door slid up.

A familiar looking Asian woman stepped through the door.  Her eyes scanned the Hub but looked over him as though he wasn’t really there.

It took a great deal of effort not to sigh in relief.  Wearing the perception filter in his TARDIS key, he was invisible to her.

He caught sight of Ianto in his periphery vision.  The Welshman silently set a mug of tea down beside him and headed towards the woman.

“Good morning Toshiko,” he said politely and she turned slightly startled.

“Morning Ianto, did you sleep well?” she asked stabbing for a question.

“Yes thank you Toshiko,” he replied not looking in her eye to see the flash of hurt concern.

Silence dragged out between them for a few minutes while she thought of something to add.  It awkwardness was interrupted by the door opening again and a surly man entering.

“Good morning Owen,” Toshiko said and received a grunt in reply as Ianto handed him a coffee.

The other man had walked a few steps away from them and the suddenly turned back.  He looked obviously surprised to see Ianto and exchanged confused looks with Toshiko.

Again there was silence as though he wanted to say something without being able to think of anything.  Ianto was the only comfortable one there but only because he had moved on to go and grab some reports and didn’t notice.

“I thought you said he was to take today off,” Toshiko mouthed to Owen.

“That’s what I told Gwen to tell him,” Owen retorted silently.

Tosh’s reply was to close her eyes and in disbelief.  When she opened them Owen shrugged at her as if to say it really had been Gwen’s call.

The fourth member of Torchwood arrived a few minutes later and looked surprised that the other two had beaten her there.  The Doctor felt a smile on his face as he recognised her too.

“Ianto,” she said.

“Your coffee ma’am and the reports you said you wanted to go over this morning,” the Welshman said smoothly handing both over to her.

She took both without thanking him and the Time Lord felt a stab of disappointment.  This was definitely not Gwyneth, and he wasn’t able to ask her about her heritage when he was not meant to be there at all.

The Doctor could tell her flicking through the reports was mostly pretence.  There was something on her mind and she was working her way up to asking.

“Ianto are you sure Jack didn’t say anything to you about where he was going?  About how he was feeling about us?” the way she said it made the Time Lord think she was asking him about herself not the team.

“He asked me questions about why I helped to open the rift and I answered them.  I then went out for coffee and he was gone when we got back,” Ianto answered as though he was repeating a familiar set of lines.

“But he kissed you surely that means...”

“Come off it Gwen, Jack’s been wanting to get into Ianto’s boxers from the moment he joined.  You don’t think he’s stupid enough to give in do you?  Jack just took advantage of the ‘back from the dead’ surprise to get in a quick snog while the Tea Boy’s guard was down.” Owen said nastily.

Gwen looked as if she was about to argue but Ianto said.

“If you will excuse me I have some things to do in the archives.”

The young man moved away from them before anybody could object.  Too late the Doctor realised that he couldn’t follow because Owen was in the way.

Gwen looked daggers at her male team mate, growled in frustration and stormed away.  She unlocked the door noisily and slammed it after her making the glass tremble.


	8. Chapter Eight

“Very neatly done,” Toshiko said coming towards Owen.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he replied haughtily.

“So how long have you know that... that.”

“That the Tea Boy’s been serving Jack more than just coffee?” Owen asked causing both Toshiko and the practically invisible Time Lord to look at him in shock.

“I wouldn’t have put it quite as crudely as that,” she said quietly looking down.  The way Owen suddenly sagged said that he hadn’t really meant it.

“When Diane was here I went down to that school room of Ianto’s to talk to him and I saw him kissing Jack,” he told her.

“That’s not like you.  Why didn’t you make fun of him at the time?”

“The thing with a good barb Tosh is the timing.  Like when the Captain and the technical genius are stuck in 1941 and he’s the only one stopping you from opening the rift,” Owen replied.

Tosh’s eyes flicked to Owen’s right shoulder.  He gave her a grimace of a smile and she winced.

“So why didn’t you say anything?” she asked again.

“They didn’t notice me.  When Ianto left there was a smile on his face, the sort of smile anyone would want to see their lover wearing.

“Then a step later it was gone.  I felt stunned.  For _that_ moment it didn’t look like him at all and I didn’t know why.

“Then I realised that it was the first genuine smile I had ever seen from him.  Well I was falling in love at the time and I took it as a good omen even if I thought it was wasted on Harkness,” Owen told her seriously.

“Is that why you’re protecting him now?” Tosh asked and he gave her a sarcastic look.

“Gwen’s got a bee in her bonnet about Jack.  It’s one thing to talk about the boyfriend you’re betraying to your bit on the side it’s another to go on endlessly about your boss, though most of that was hero worship,” Owen replied.

“You did it out of spite?” Tosh exclaimed.

“She opened the rift for Rhys.  Then she barely checked he was okay before she came back to sit with Jack.”

“She felt guilty.”

“We all did.  Tosh you didn’t see her face before I realised Jack was there large as life snogging Ianto.

“It was more than guilt that made her sit with him.  She sent us out for coffee so she could grill Jack about Ianto and you know it,” Owen stated and Tosh nodded.  Together they glanced at the office the Welshwoman was using.

“We could both see how exhausted he was.  He hadn’t gone home while Jack was dead, that’s why I recommended that he have a few days off so he could have time to rest and cope,” Owen stated bitterly.

“And Gwen ignored you,” she said softly looking down sadly.   “We aren’t going to see that smile again.”

“Sure we will, Jack isn’t all that even with her highness slave driving us while mooning over Jack like _he_ was hers,” Owen said encouragingly.  “That’s something she cannot understand.”

“What?” Tosh asked.

“The effect Ianto had on Jack, from the very beginning.  She wasn’t there to see it, she only got the benefits,” Owen said and Tosh nodded in agreement but looked incredibly sad and serious.

“I saw a glimpse of the smile you’re talking about.  I saw it the night Jack and Gwen found out about Mark Lynch abducting Weevils for his fight club.

“We went out to dinner and he told me he was seeing someone.  He wouldn’t tell me who only that they had started as friend but that they were getting closer.  I got the impression that Ianto was falling in love but hadn’t decided yet whether or not to pursue it or let things stay as they are,” Tosh told him quietly.

“Well I think even I would have noticed if they had had that conversation already.  Now Ianto knows what everyone can see.  Jack is not a one person guy.  He isn’t a bloke to settle down especially if he’s immortal.  Ianto can put the whole thing down to a rebound reaction and move on,” Owen said philosophically.

“Oh you can be such an insensitive idiot,” Tosh said loudly and stormed away from him to her own desk.  The Doctor agreed with her entirely.

Gwen looked out of her office but Owen just gave her that grimacing smile and picked up some files.  He walked over to Toshiko but neither began to talk again until the Welshwoman had retreated to her office.

“Okay you’re right, especially when it comes to Ianto.  How bad is it?” he asked gently.

“He’s stopped drinking coffee,” Tosh said quietly.

“What?” he hissed.  The invisible Time Lord felt confused but remembered the thrown mug from last night.

“After Jack defeated Abaddon, when we thought he was dead, Ianto stopped drinking coffee.  He would get it for us but only tea or hot water for himself.  He’s in uber-butler mode everything tidy and efficient.  Hidden in that shell he walked around in after his suspension, only Jack isn’t here this time to draw him out,” she told him holding back tears of worry.

“He has you to look after him,” Owen reminded her.

“It isn’t the same Owen. I’m not capable of giving him the understanding he needs,” she answered.

“What do you mean?”

“He was one of twenty-seven survivors.  We have no idea how many he knew but do you think he would have been so desperate to try and save Lisa, knowing how dangerous and unlikely that was, if she hadn’t been all he had left.

“We all know grief, except for Gwen I suppose, but not on that scale.  I think Jack does, we both know Jack does.

“I think we, Torchwood, are all Ianto has.  I’m the only one he would call a friend but I’m not sure I’m the sort of friend he needs, I don’t think I can be that,” she answered distressed.

Whatever reassurance Owen was going to give her was silenced by alarms.  Tosh pushed her feelings aside and focused instantly on checking the computers.

“What have you got?” Gwen asked surprising the Doctor as he had been focused on the readouts.

“Rift activity in Spoltt, I think something’s coming through,” Tosh answered.

“Have you got a fix?”

“Not yet but I am narrowing the area down,” Tosh replied.

“Can you do it from the SUV?” the Welshwoman asked.

“Yes,” the Technical genius replied

“Then get your things and let’s go,” Gwen ordered.

Toshiko grabbed some things from her desk and turned to them and asked “What...?”

“No time, we need to do this as quickly as possible as we’re a man down,” she said almost grabbing the other woman’s arm and steering her towards the garage with Owen following.

Within seconds the Doctor was alone in the Hub and the man in the basement was forgotten.


	9. Chapter Nine

The Doctor decided to finish his cooling tea before heading for the archives.  He drank quickly as the Hub felt empty; it was missing its vibrancy, missing Jack.

When the Time Lord found his way to Ianto’s hidden alcove he saw that the misfiled artefacts that had been left on the shelf were gone.  He had no idea where to start a search so he went to the place where the Welshman had been checking his inventory before the others arrived.

Ianto was there, though a little further along.  He looked up silently as the Time Lord approached then returned to his work.

“The others have gone out, a rift activity alarm or something,” the Doctor said.

“I know,” the young man replied without looking up.

“They called you?” he asked hopefully.

“No, my PDA is linked in to alert me if one of the alarms is triggered.  It will let me know when they come back so that I can figure out what they need,” Ianto replied moving his attention from the box he had been working on to a new one.

“Bet it would have been nice though,” the Doctor said softly.

“I thought you knew Torchwood isn’t nice,” Ianto replied sharply looking at him.

They held gazes for a moment but this time Ianto turned away.  It wasn’t anger that made him uncomfortable it was pity.

“I’m not a field agent Doctor.  I’m admin, support staff.  I do all the things that need to be done that they are too busy saving the world to do.

“I make them write detailed reports.  I keep them supplied with electronic components, medical supplies, ammunition and food.  I tidy away the mess, their rubbish, the artefacts and the corpses.  It isn’t necessary for them to keep me informed of their movements,” Ianto told him.

“Are you happy or content with the status quo?” he asked wanting to get some sort of reaction.

He received a very cold look.

“This is my purpose, my duty,” Ianto said coldly.  “You’re like them you don’t understand the true function of an archivist.”

“You catalogue and store things?” the Doctor said slightly sarcastically at the ridiculous nature of the question.

“Ah but that things?” Ianto asked mysteriously.

He finished with the box he was working on and slipped the PDA into his pocket.  He walked back down the aisle, the Time Lord following, until he reached the container with the Ordien music box inside it and pulled it out.

“Would you say that this Ordien music box it harmless?” Ianto asked.

“Yes?” the Doctor answered cagily.

“I am not a member of an ancient race with knowledge and wisdom beyond my comprehension,” the young man stated. 

There should have been a smile, the Doctor knew, but the Welshman’s face remained blank.  Those blue eyes looked at him over the alien music box to ensure he had the Time Lord’s full attention.

“Say though that the next time we encounter Ordien technology it’s a weapons console, possibly with live weapons.  You can’t make sure it is deactivated by poking it with a stick.

“However we have this music box.  Examining the technology within it doesn’t just tell us about the physical components.  It tells us about the logic an intuition behind the design.

“From this harmless trinket we can figure out the patterns in the weapons console, increase our chances of making it safe, ensuring it is de-activated,” the Welshman’s voice was mellow and frightening.

“The music box was found in 1922.  They examined and x-rayed it; we have schematics of the inner workings on file.  It looks similar to the circuit boards used in computers in the eighties.

“Back then they didn’t have a clue about silicon chips.  They did know what a music box was and decided that it was not going to weld any further answers by continued study.

“Today we call our musical boxes i-pods and they fit in our pockets not sit on tables looking decorative.  Our own technology has surpassed that within this artefact with, as far as I know, very little alien intervention.

“That doesn’t make this artefact any more benign though.  I-pods use rechargeable batteries plugged into the mains.  This musical box’s power source is still active after ninety years with no signs of diminishing.

“I wonder what Tosh would make of it if I asked her to have a look at it?” Ianto asked and the Doctor looked at him in horror.  _If they used Ordien technology to make a new power source they would make dangerous changes to the time line, dangerous advances in technology they were not wise enough to understand yet._

“The contents of these vaults could bring about a new golden age for mankind.  Or a new dark age.  Like me these archives are here for when they are needed but otherwise best forgotten,” Ianto stated gently placing the music box back in its crate and returning to the next artefact on his list.

 _It isn’t as though I was ever of importance_ , words Ianto had once spoken to him echoed in the Doctor’s mind.  Lies believed as truth now as much as then.

Any words the Time Lord meant to say were silenced as the accursed PDA beeped again.

“The others are on their way back,” Ianto told him checking the information on the screen. “And their bringing a body with them.”


	10. Chapter Ten

The Doctor’s first reaction was to feel anger.  As he followed Ianto through the maze of archives he realised that was exactly what the Welshman wanted.

He wanted the Doctor to feel repulsed by Torchwood, by him.  He wanted the Time Lord to leave and not come back.

But the Doctor understood Ianto.  He understood in the same way Jack did and Toshiko feared she couldn’t.  He understood what it was like to survive great tragedy alone.

The Time Lord didn’t know who this Lisa was but he could guess both what she meant to Ianto and what she became.  _You_ _were nowhere near Cyber Conversion_ , he hadn’t been then, at Canary Wharf, but he had witnessed them in the past.

Walking through the Hub he risked a few glances into the past to confirm his suspicions.  At the time he might have been as angry as Jack but he had no right to cast stones.

The Doctor had wanted to keep the Master alive.  To cling onto his childhood friend and adult enemy because he was the last Time Lord other than himself.

That was despite the pain, torture and torment he had made Jack, Martha and her family suffer.  He had seen understanding though, with the disgust, when he told Jack his decision.  Jack had understood because Ianto had taught him to.

It was the same when the Master died. 

After all the cruel abuse Jack was well within his rights to be angry, to defile the dead Time Lord’s corpse.  Instead he had kept the others away as the Doctor grieved.  He had helped organise the funeral pyre and waited until the last Time Lord was ready to run again before telling him he wanted to return to Cardiff.

That was another change in Jack.  When they had met part of the Doctor’s suspicions were because he had seen some of himself in Jack.

Jack was an open, sexual being but he could see inside dark secrets.  When he accepted the ex-Time Agent aboard the TARDIS he decided the man’s past was not important, he had taken a step towards redemption.

Jack might have wanted more praise and glory at first but they he didn’t mind slipping away quietly.  Jack loved the freedom to explore time and space, loved being able to leave when the bad times became too much and he was enjoying helping others.

The Doctor had run from responsibility all his life.  He wanted to explore, wanted to see.  Then when his home was gone he wanted run away from the pain inside him until he met Rose and she began to heal him.

Ianto Jones was the opposite.  He was staying, facing his responsibility, the guilt of surviving, of what he had done.  It didn’t matter that he was doing menial things, they were what he could do within the grand design to help.  When it became too much the Welshman didn’t run, he hid.

Unnoticed and unacknowledged he was hiding in plain sight.  Only the Doctor could see him, just as only Jack had seen him before he left.

Jack had made Ianto stop hiding, from him but not from the others.  Now Jack was gone Ianto was trying to hide in his work but the Doctor wasn’t able to stop knowing he was there.

They entered the garage as the SUV finished parking.  The others barely acknowledged Ianto’s presence as Owen was arguing about single mothers.

Ianto had a gurney ready and opened the boot to get the body out.  Before the Doctor could help, the Welshman had lifted the corpse out and onto the trolley with the practice of one used to doing it by himself.

He paused for a minute when he straightened up and the Doctor was at his side.

“You okay?”

“Just got up to quick,” the young man answered and finished securing the body on the gurney.

Ianto checked to make sure he hadn’t missed anything and wheeled the body up towards the main Hub.  The Doctor wasn’t in the mood to see the body being autopsied though it had looked like a Nalerian, not a particularly nice species but not overly agressive.

The Welshman was back ten minutes later.  He had a car cleaning kit and began to use it on the bloodstains in the boot.

He let the cleaning products to their work and began to inventory the equipment in the boot.  He checked the tool kit, first aid kit and the amo locker.  He had a couple of cupboards and a secure locker where he kept replacement equipment.

Everything restocked Ianto then moved to make sure the inside of the vehicle was clean.  The Time Lord was not surprised that there was a mess.

It was soothing watching the Welshman work.  He knew the SUV by instinct and knew when something was out of place.

He remembered Rose and Martha both teasing him about the way he stroked the TARDIS.  There was no affection in the young man for the SUV but he could see the same careful attention to its state.

The Welshman paused and pressed his hand to his ears.  The Doctor watched him intently but no emotion flashed across the young man’s face.

“Yes ma’am,” he said after a few minutes then turned to the Time Lord.  “We’re having Chinese do you want any?”

“Lemon chicken?” the Doctor asked feeling hungry again.

Ianto smiled politely then got his phone out and dialled a number from memory.

“Hello Mrs Wong?  Yes it’s Mr Jones from the Tourist Office...  I’m very well thank you.  Yes I’d like our usual but could you substitute a Lemon Chicken for the Sweet and Sour Pork Balls... Yes being adventurous... Twenty minutes that’s great... Thank you, bye,” then he hung up, put his phone in his pocket and continued with his work.

He obviously decided that the cleaning products had had time to do their work in the back and began to finish the job.  There were only damp patches now and the Welshman checked his watch to see if his twenty minutes were nearly up.

The young man put everything away and headed back up towards the main hub.  He washed his hands and then went up to the kitchen.

Ianto emerged a few minutes later with plates, cutlery, glasses and chopsticks.  He laid the table for three and placed a forth empty place to one side.

It was enough to give the Time Lord’s worries about the young man’s health.  The Doctor took the time to look around the Hub for what he needed before the Welshman headed out of the cogwheel door and up to the Tourist Office to collect the food.

The door was only half way closed when the Doctor dashed to an out of the way nook not far from the autopsy bay.  Just as he expected he found a well stocked cupboard with clearly sectioned human and alien medical supplies.

Normally the Doctor didn’t condone this sort of thing but the situation seemed to call for it.  Ianto Jones in ‘uber-butler’ mode as Toshiko put it seemed to look after everyone except himself.

He raided the supplies, mixing chemicals and decided he would write an apology note later.  Within minutes he had a vial of tasteless liquid hidden in his hand. He moved away from the cupboard and towards autopsy just as the door alarm sounded again.

Ianto opened the dishes and put them in order on the table.  He hastily filled the fourth plate, called the others, and was moving back to the kitchen before any of them could respond.

The Welshman caught his eye and directed the Time Lord back to the kitchen.  There was a place set for him and the plate was deposited there for him.

“You’re not joining me?” The Doctor asked.

“I’m not hungry,” Ianto replied and the Time Lord felt his earlier concerns become fully justified.

“But there is more than enough,” The Time Lord said raiding the cupboards for a second plate.  “And I don’t like to eat alone.”

It was a corny, clichéd line which made him wince inwardly but it worked.  He could tell by the slight sagging of the shoulders that the Welshman was going to do as he asked.

The Doctor seized the opportunity and scooped half the contents of his plate onto the one he found.  He also managed to sprinkle the food with the tasteless liquid before the young man turned back and sat reluctantly down.

They could still hear the others in the Hub debating loudly.  Ianto was doing little more than pick at the contents of his plate.

So the Doctor decided to talk.  Not necessarily a wise move as Jack had always been a talker too, however Ianto was a wonderful listener.

As the Welshman listened to the tale of the Doctor dealing with social faux pas’ at an alien banquet he didn’t notice his body taking advantage of the distraction.  He was eating without noticing.

If Ianto had eaten as little as the Time Lord suspected then the rich Chinese should have made him sick.  However the enzyme he had sprinkled over the food would aid digestion and prevent that.

The Time Lord let his eyes hold the young man’s attention.  Let his voice fill his ears so that he wouldn’t notice him swapping plates so he ate the Doctor’s half of the meal too.

When he finished the alien changed the tone of both the story and his voice, deeper and softer.  Ianto held on for a good half an hour before the Doctor’s voice sent him to sleep.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Ianto Jones’ head rested on his chest as he sat straight up, asleep, in the chair.  As quietly as he could the Doctor crept out of the chair opposite.

That little trick shouldn’t have worked either.  The intelligence Ianto displayed suggested that he would have never gotten away with any of this if the young man hadn’t worked himself to exhaustion first.

It was for his own good that he ate and slept but the Time Lord couldn’t help feel that Ianto would not appreciate it.  He was a human with a lot of work to do, and the needed break would be turned against him as Ianto worked double to make up for it.

So the Doctor decided to do Ianto’s job for him.  He slipped the bulky earpiece out of the young man’s ear carefully and took it with him.  The others had finished the meal and gone to their various workstations to do other things.

The Time lord collected the dishes and then returned with a black sack to clear away the rubbish.  It felt like such a bizarrely quaint and human task that he saw it more as fun than a chore.

Alien he might be but he was not a washing up virgin.  He had been made to do it many times over his centuries but doing it of his own free will was a novelty.

He splashed the water pretending that the dirt on the dishes was an alien invasion and he was using his cleaning brush to fight them off the plates.  Childish he knew but he didn’t care, he just made sure he kept the noise down as he didn’t want to wake Ianto.

He felt parched afterwards.  He knew the Torchwood team drank coffee and went to have a look at the coffee machine.

At first he missed it because he thought it was part of a Corealle star engine that hadn’t been properly archived.  It was the smell of coffee beans that told him this was an error on his part.

After staring at it for ten minutes he felt sure that perhaps he had been right the first time.  Coffee should not be that complicated to make, not when tea was much easier and more tasty.

Therefore, the Time Lord made tea for everyone.  He completely guessed how they liked to drink it and distributed it virtually unnoticed.

“Thank you,” Tosh said, the only one, but she didn’t look towards him until a few minutes later when he had stepped far enough away for the perception filter to be fully working again.

It was the suit.  They were so used to Ianto wandering around in his suit that they were not noticing him in his as much as they should.  A pang of pity for the quiet young man washed though him as he decided to make his way to the archives.

Accessing the computer was easy thanks to the sonic screwdriver.  He needed to see for himself what had happened to Ianto since they opened the rift.

He wasn’t interested in what happened to make them open the rift.  The Doctor agreed with Owen, Jack had forgiven his team or he would not have gone back to them after the _Valiant_.

The Time Lord fast-forwarded through the footage from a gap, presumably between the rift being open and them getting their systems back on line, scanning for Ianto’s movements.

Toshiko was right, Ianto worked practically non-stop.  The only other person not to leave the Hub while Jack was dead was Gwen sitting with him in the morgue.

Ianto tidied up, got them food while eating none himself.  He even brought stuff to Gwen.  The Welshman’s eyes as they travelled to Jack’s face welled with unnoticed grief every time he did.

He disappeared for a few hours after the others left each night into a hole in the office Gwen was using, Jack’s office.  The Time Lord guessed Jack’s quarters were there.  However it was never long enough for Ianto to get a full night’s sleep.

The reunion when Jack came back to life was beautiful.  The tenderness in the kiss was all the Doctor needed to see to know that Ianto’s feelings were returned.

Then too soon Jack was gone, running after the sound of the TARDIS and leaving them with a mystery.  Leaving them all uncertain of where they stood.

He watched them work tirelessly for twenty-four hours, what they found out was immaterial, before they came to the conclusion that Jack left of his own free will.

The Doctor was glad when Gwen physically bundled Ianto out of the Hub after locking up Jack’s office.  That was last night when they met.

“Ianto the body’s ready for you in the morgue,” Owen’s voice was a little tinny as the earpiece was in the Time Lord’s top pocket and made him jump.  The connection was closed when he checked so the medic was obviously not waiting for a response.

The Doctor felt a little panic.  Ianto was a very precise person he had ways and procedures.  There was no point doing a job for him if he would then redo it afterwards.

That was when he noticed the ‘How to’ icon on the Welshman’s desktop.  Clicking it there was the instructions for all the admin procedures listed on a menu.

The Time Lord smiled.  Quickly he read the procedure to create a new user to the system and the procedures for body storage.

He then created a login for Doctor John Smith, unpaid freelance consultant, and headed off towards the morgue.  He followed Ianto’s absurdly simple instructions and went about the sombre task of putting the Nalerian into the freezer.

He logged into Ianto’s computer under his new user ID and was pleased to find everything was the same as on the Welshman’s desktop.  He then logged the body in the system under himself.

The Doctor then went back up to the main Hub.  He wanted to check that Ianto was still asleep and to collect the written reports.

He read through the autopsy report first.  The Nalerian had been dead when the Torchwood team got there and the Time Lord breathed a sigh of relief, it was good to know Jack was right about his team.

The Nalerian had appeared in the middle of the street and a single mother, in a 4 by 4 people carrier had run it over because she thought it was threatening her child.  Given the Nalerian’s red, scaled skin and sabre teeth the Doctor could understand that.

It also explained how the Nalerian had been killed.  Bullets would have ricochet of the alien’s scaled hide but impact from a car would do both internal and external damage.

He typed the details into the computer and added only a few pieces of information that he thought might be useful.  He then moved on to Toshiko’s tech report, which was very impressive and Gwen’s crime scene report.

He debated whether or not to make another round of tea before doing some work in the archives.  The archives won because there was something exciting about being there.  It wasn’t the power within them that Ianto spoke about, but the sense that it was the most forbidden area of Torchwood and he had been given permission to play there.

Admittedly he did more exploring of the boxes than checking the facts on the database but he did some work on them.  He would have stayed longer but the Welshwoman’s voice sounded through the comms wanting to know where Ianto was so they could all leave.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Ianto jolted as the Doctor gently grasped his shoulder to wake him.  The young man made no sound but looked around the kitchen in mild confusion.

“You’ve been asleep.  Gwen’s calling she wants to lock up,” the Doctor said softly.

The Welshman looked at his watch and then looked in panic at the Time Lord as he realised how much time he had lost.  The alien sighed sadly he had been right about Ianto’s reaction.

“It’s okay I did everything for you.”

“What do you mean?” the young man asked his voice horse with sleep.  The Time Lord went to fetch him a glass of water.

“I did the washing up, I made everyone tea, I put the Nalerian’s corpse in the morgue, I put the reports onto the database and I did a little archiving.  Don’t worry I made my own login so that you can blame me later if you like,” the Time Lord said beaming.  Ianto though did not look pleased.

“It’s alright I used your ‘How To’ guide, followed it to the letter.  You know they’re very comprehensible.  Everything you need to know to work for Torchwood, except for the coffee maker,” the Doctor added realising what the Welshman’s anxiety might be about.

He had been so pleased with himself, so proud of being able to do the young man’s seemingly trivial but important job that he wasn’t quite prepared for the reaction.  At the mention of the ‘How To’ guide deep sadness flashed through Ianto’s eyes.

“Thank you,” the young man whispered without conviction.

“Ianto,” came the sound of Gwen’s voice calling, reminding them that she wanted them to leave.

The Welshman’s face was a mask instantly as he finished his water, rinsed the glass and went smoothly out of the door.  The Time Lord followed confused in his wake.

“There you are,” Gwen said as they reached her.

“I was just finishing up in the kitchen,” Ianto replied smoothly.

“Well come on I wanted to get home early tonight.  Rhys is planning dinner and I don’t want to be late,” she said examining Ianto’s face for any sign of comment.

There wasn’t any, he just walked ahead of her, pausing only to ensure that the Doctor left before him so he wouldn’t get shut in the Hub.  Gwen sighed and activated the security systems after the cogwheel door closed behind her.

The Doctor could tell that Gwen was going to start questioning Ianto again when they got in the lift.  This time there wasn’t going to an Owen to divert her attention.

It was fortunate that her phone rang.

“Rhys hi… No, I’m just on my way… Parmesan cheese and dessert right… no I can do that… No I can’t wait…”

 The conversation continued as the Time Lord looked at Ianto who was patently ignoring it.  The young man was trying not to let the pain show.  Gwen had something he was never going to have, the loss of Jack just added to that knowledge.

The Welshwoman was still chatting merrily to Rhys when the lift stopped and they all got out.  The Doctor could hear deep affection in her voice.

 _Another Mickey Smith.  Only Jack is in my role and Gwen is in Rose’s.  At least she isn’t travelling time and space, at least she can come home to him,_ the Doctor thought sadly then looked at the silent Welshman beside him.

They drove to Ianto’s house in silence.  Normally the Time Lord would have wanted to fill the quiet with noise but there was a danger in the silence, the danger that it wouldn’t be the only thing broken if he spoke.

Ianto let them into the house then divested himself of Coat, jacket, shoes and socks.  He padded into the lounge with the Time Lord following and turned on the TV.

“…Minister Harold Saxon arrives in Cardiff tomorrow as part of his inspection of the country’s defence facilities.  Despite rumours that he will break away from the main party to form in own when the election candidates are announced next month, he still seems to have the Prime Minister’s full confidence,” the newscaster states.

The Doctor felt his heart jump in his throat as the picture changed to the face of the Master surrounded by cameras.

“My inspection of the barracks in Cardiff are purely routine.  I have the full confidence of the Prime Minister and we are the best of friends.  I am looking forward to a warm welcome when I get to Wales,” the Master stated boldly.

Whatever else he was going to say next was cut off as Ianto slumped on his sofa and changed channels.  The Doctor was too busy with is own shocked reaction at seeing the other Time Lord alive again that he didn’t see Ianto’s own shiver.

When he did turn to the Welshman it was to find him curled up as small as possible not really looking at the television.  It was enough to shake the fear that was threatening to overwhelm him.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” the Doctor said quietly and the young man turned to him.  The Time Lord moved a little closer.

“I thought you needed the rest.  I only did it to help, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he added not really looking.

The sudden sensation of a hand touching his was unexpected.  Ianto shifted positions meaning for the Doctor to sit next to him.

The Doctor did not, wanting right now to let go.  He needed a focus, a distraction, anything.

“I told you I was at Canary Wharf did I tell you about Lisa?” he asked.  The Doctor shook his head feeling that if he said anything Ianto would know the others had inadvertently betrayed that secret.

“She worked for London too, she was my girlfriend,” the young man said quietly.

“She died?” the Doctor said with only a hint of question.  He mentally shook himself and focused on the problem in hand, taking the offered seat.

“Not exactly then.  Over the Twentieth century Torchwood London had sprung up various departments all across the city, a bit like some university campus’ that gain new buildings as they gain new departments.

“When the Tower was built all those departments became housed in the one place, including the high security archives.  They had cyber converters,” Ianto said quietly.

The Doctor closed his eyes and took deep breaths in order to control his temper.  The Welshman didn’t need to be told how stupid keeping cyber converters was, he knew better than anyone.

It was his own stupidity he cursed.  The Cybermen of this universe had visited Earth several times and the Doctor had helped thwart them, only he obviously hadn’t done a good enough job clearing away afterwards, well he usually left that to others.

“She was in one of those when you stopped them.  She still looked half human, still sounded half human.  I had to save her.  I came here because I knew Torchwood had the facilities I needed to help, or destroy her if things went wrong.

“I persuaded Jack to give me a job.  I did so knowing I was betraying him and I never expected to like him.

“Still, I told myself, it wouldn’t be for long.  I was either going to save Lisa or be tortured and executed for treason,” Ianto said without feeling.

“Jack’s not like that,” the Doctor said darkly wanting to defend his friend.

“At the time I knew Torchwood not Jack.  I loved her and was willing to betray him, Torchwood and myself to save her.  I knew the price and accepted it,” Ianto said passionately.

“When I started here I couldn’t believe how desperately Jack needed an administrator stroke butler stroke archivist.  I wrote my ‘How To’ guides so that he could give them to my replacement.

“You are the only person who has ever looked at them.  Even though I was suspended for four weeks after they disposed of the Cyberman they didn’t bother they just left what they couldn’t handle until I got back,” the Welshman’s voice had become quiet again.

He was also trying to make himself curl up small again.  Ianto Jones was a bundle of confusion and hurt and the Doctor had no idea how to make things right for him.

“I lost someone at Canary Wharf.  Okay she isn’t dead but she is trapped in a parallel world but she meant a great deal to me,” the Doctor blurted out unable to stand being silent anymore.

“Tell me about her?” Ianto asked quietly wanting something to distract him for his misery.

So the Doctor told him about Rose.  He hadn’t even gotten around to telling him about his blunder in returning Rose home twelve months late when the Welshman fell asleep once more.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

While Ianto was asleep the Doctor went out in search of a supermarket.  He hated them, they were one of those places he tried to avoid even more than temporal paradoxes.

Market places he loved, they were vibrant, colourful and had personality.  Supermarkets were dull and bland and you always got a trolley with sentient wheels that wanted to head in the wrong direction.

The Welshman however had practically no food at home and at this time of night supermarkets were the only option.  The Time Lord had measure enough of the situation to know that if he didn’t take the trouble to look after the young man no one else would.

So he braved Ianto’s local with its too bright lights, awful music and those shoppers that were looking for more than fruit and veg.  At the end though all he could do was thank goodness for psychic credit cards and return to Ianto’s home as quickly as possible.

He didn’t even think about getting something for the Welshman from his TARDIS.  Somewhere in his mind sorting out Ianto Jones’ had become an adventure of sorts and getting help from the old girl felt like cheating.

The Doctor tried not to do domestic because it felt like he was being tied down.  There was also the danger of the person he was with getting more attached to him than he could return.

Neither was the case with Ianto.  The Welshman asked and expected nothing from him so he felt quite happy with doing shopping and cooking dinner.

Ianto was also heartbroken.  The Doctor knew that he was partially to blame and that meant that there was no danger of the Welshman developing feelings for him, after Martha and Astrid that was a relief.

In a corner of the Doctor’s mind there was a silent thought, a part of him that was tired of all the loss and pain, part of him that was enjoying the break from being his mad running around self.

The thought remained silent so that the Time Lord could treat the young man as his next problem to solve.  It knew he wasn’t ready for the universe, that his next adventure could destroy him if he didn’t heal first, because it was a subconscious thought shared with his TARDIS.

The Time Lord cooked a simple meal and woke Ianto to eat.  The Welshman sat eating in silence as he continued to tell him about Rose.

The Doctor was not surprised to find the young man tiring after eating.  He had broken through a barrier with his little trick earlier.

All the mental, emotional and physical exhaustion of the past few days were becoming manifest.  Ianto’s body was demanding rest and there was nothing left to resist.

The Doctor helped put the Welshman to bed talking the whole time out of shear nervousness.  The Time Lord didn’t miss that Ianto crying quietly from within the fortress of bed covers.

 

He hoped that the young man would call in sick the next day or just not bother to get up but he was wrong.  It was as if at five o’clock a reset switch was pressed and Ianto rose, the controlled, dutiful, Torchwood employee.

The Time Lord resigned himself to another day of invisibly following Ianto around.  He wondered if it would be too cheeky to ask the Welshman for a map and take the opportunity to explore.

Yet as soon as he considered it he knew that he shouldn’t.  He should stick with Ianto and help him with his work to try and ease the exhaustion the young man was determined to ignore.

That was his official excuse.  Just like talking about Rose was officially a way to fill tense silences and to distract the Welshman from his misery, because during the silence of night a dangerous thought had occurred.

_The Master was coming to Cardiff._

He knew he should have left the moment he realised he was in the past, in the England were Harold Saxon was an MP.  That’s why he was going around with a perception filter on so that the Master wouldn’t realise he was here.

He had been focusing on Ianto because he was partially responsible and because he knew what happened to the Welshman during the year that never was.  He had lulled himself with the thought that, though London wasn’t that far away, it was far enough away when your TARDIS was not in the mood to move.

_The Master was coming to Cardiff._

He was going to stick with Ianto.  While the young man needed him he was not going to leave his side again.  He was just going to look after Jack’s lover for a while as a favour, as an apology for what he had allowed to happen.

_The Master is coming to Cardiff._

He wouldn’t be here yet.  MP’s probably didn’t get up until around ten, then he would have to travel from wherever he was last night.

 _Scotland_ , the Master was travelling from Scotland, a quick stop in Birmingham for a two hour lunch break with photo opportunity.  That would mean he wouldn’t arrive until midnight, especially if they had to go along the M6.

All he had to do was sort Ianto’s life out by tea time and then he could go without being anywhere near the Master.  He was in no danger then of creating a paradox.

Ianto Jones didn’t notice the silence that was brewing unnaturally around the Time Lord as he got ready for work.  The tension as six words refused to leave the Doctor’s head.

_The Master is coming to Cardiff._

 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Ianto Jones was either a mind reader or he had unconsciously decided to groom the Doctor as his replacement.  The Time Lord couldn’t decide if that was an honour or something that should worry him.

Myfanwy and the Weevils obviously didn’t need feeding today so Ianto was giving the Doctor a tour.  He was showing and explaining every room and facility in the Hub.

At the sight of the armoury the Time Lord raised a disapproving eyebrow.  He was mildly surprised to receive a raised eyebrow in return which said, who would you prefer keep these safe.  Ianto was right and so he shrugged and moved on to the next room.

The Hub really was huge.  Apart from the extensive archives and cells (mostly unused) there were large medical and scientific facilities containing the latest human, and some alien equipment.

There were also quarters to house a regiment and food and water supplies to last ten years.  The Doctor guessed they were facilities left over from the cold war as Cardiff was the chosen location for Torchwood to house a back up base.

It was while they were looking at rooms that had only been used to improve Ianto’s dusting skills that the Doctor realised why he was getting the grand tour, after all the motives were similar to his own.

The Doctor took his companions across time and space.  He showed them the wonders of existence so they would spend time with him, to stave off the loneliness.

Ianto Jones only had a top secret underground base and he was showing the Doctor all its mysteries.  Partly it was to put him off, make him leave, but mostly so that he would stay, keep the loneliness at bay.

Still it was keeping his mind away from... _No not going to go there, just going to enjoy this wonderful exploration of a dank dark corridor._

“Oh,” Ianto’s mildly surprise voice jolted the Time Lord out of his impending disastrous thoughts.

“What?” he asked.

“This room wasn’t here before,” the Welshman answered quietly.

The Doctor focused his attention on the space in the wall.  It didn’t look as though a hole had been knocked in it, admittedly there wasn’t a door but the opening had the smoothness of a constructed opening.

“Are you sure?” he asked and received a raised eyebrow and an old look.

“I didn’t exactly smuggle my half cyberized girlfriend though the front door.  I know every tunnel and forgotten passageway.  I needed to be sure of my way in and that I could get out.

“I’m not sure if even Jack knows the base as well as I do.  Besides I came down this corridor on the way to one of the labs a couple of weeks ago.  This opening was not there then but it’s here now,” Ianto replied turning to the Time Lord.

“Your base is right on top of the rift.  You opened it, maybe for a few moments this area got linked to a version of Hub in another dimension and they just switched over,” the Doctor said thoughtfully, he took out his sonic screwdriver and gave the room a quick scan.

“So we have a brand new room and they have three small ones,” Ianto clarified.

“Possibly.”

“Is it stable?  I mean if I go into this room now will I still come out in this dimension?” Ianto asked.

“You’ve closed the Rift so I expect you will stay, there is nothing affecting it not.  Of course you don’t know what that other Torchwood was using this room for.  Shall we take a look?” the Time Lord asked eagerly taking a step forward.

A hand firmly blocked his path.

“I’m the one that’s dispensable,” Ianto replied as he took a torch from his pocket and cautiously entered the room.

For a moment the Doctor stood there stunned.  The Welshman’s words took all the fun out of exploring the room and made him feel a little bit angry.

“What makes you think you’re dispensable?  What makes your one life worth less than one of my thirteen?” he asked going in without caution.

“He wouldn’t want anything to happen to you,” Ianto said quietly.  There was no doubt in the Doctor’s mind who ‘he’ was.

“I wouldn’t have thought you would care about what Jack wants,” the Doctor asked probing.

“It doesn’t matter.  You are only here because you’re stuck here and I’m apparently the most fascinating thing in Cardiff.  That makes your safety my responsibility,” Ianto replied neatly ignoring the issue.

“You are quite fascinating,” the Doctor said defensively after a while.  “You work for a top secret organisation with all these things you’re not supposed to have and you’ve got a Dyson.”

“Excuse me?” Ianto asked turning to face the Time Lord with confused look on his face.

“Nothing,” the Time Lord replied too quickly and did his best not to look guilty.

It wasn’t fair that this Welsh lad in his mid twenties could stare at him like he was a toddler who had just done a bad thing.  Ianto’s silence made him feel nervous and twitchy yet he later realised this was his first glimpse at the man that turned Jack Harkness on.

“Oh alright, I was hoping that I could do your vacuuming later,” the Time Lord confessed.

“What?” Ianto’s face seemed to be battling confusion and horror.

“Okay I’ve been to earth a lot over the last century or so but no one ever lets me near their house hold appliances.  I can disarm bombs, fix engines but well, I have my reasons for never actually setting up house but I thought as I was staying with you for a bit I could have a go.

“I mean I know the principles behind the vacuum suction of dust but I have never used one and those Dyson’s look so fascinating, I mean you can actually see the dust can’t you,” the Doctor rambled nervously until the young man closed his eyes and the pressure of the stare released.

“I can see it now.  Dear diary, I have no idea what the brouhaha is about the Doctor.  There were none of those dangerous or fascinating aliens, no mysteries to solve when he came to visit me.  He just cooked a great vegetable soup, gave all my carpets the once over and I taught him the proper way to iron shirts.”

“Will you really?” the Time Lord asked cautiously.

“Really what?”

“Teach me how to iron shirts,” he replied trying not to sound hopeful.

Ianto Jones looked at him with that stare that saw everything.  After a few moments the Doctor dared to return the gaze until the young man sighed.

“If you’re still here on my next day off you can mow the lawn to,” Ianto replied sounding slightly resigned but he returned the Doctor’s smile albeit briefly.

The Time Lord then did another scan of the mysterious new room with his sonic screwdriver and told Ianto it was safe, no dimensional instabilities.

“The others will be here soon.  I’ll go and make them coffee and tell them about his room,” Ianto said then added cheekily.  “I’ll teach you how to use the coffee machine if you like.”

“That is not a coffee machine it’s a Corealle Star Engine,” the Time Lord replied as they made their way back to the main Hub.

 

 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Being taught to make coffee did not change the Doctor’s opinion of either the coffee maker or the beverage.  He couldn’t help notice Ianto hesitate over whether or not to make a fourth cup before deciding to make tea instead.

The Welshman didn’t meet his eyes as he handed the beverage over.  The Time Lord remembered what Toshiko had said, about his not drinking coffee being a disturbing sign, and merely murmured his thanks.

The technical genius was the first member of the team to arrive.  She and Ianto greeted each other the same way they had yesterday.

“There’s a new room downstairs,” Ianto said as she began to settle at her workstation.

“I’ll get my things,” she answered without hesitation and began to gather up pieces of equipment.

Owen and Gwen arrived together.  They both greeted Tosh but only Owen said hello to Ianto straight away.  Gwen instead asked Tosh what she was doing and received her answer before greeting the Welshman.

The Welshwoman’s behaviour was starting to irritate the Doctor.  He couldn’t tell though if she was usually like this or if she was behaving this way because of Jack’s disappearance.

Despite his efforts, Jack had managed to break more than one heart during his travels with the Doctor.  It was quite surprising to find that there were only two hearts at Torchwood that had beaten for him.

Jack had grown up during his hundred year wait.  He had felt responsibility and he had made the Doctor very proud of him.

An hour after they had arrived Jack’s team were surveying the new room.  The Doctor watched Ianto watching them.  He suddenly realised that if he hadn’t said it was safe first the young man would not a mentioned it to the others.

“Ianto mate are you sure this wasn’t here before?” Owen asked closely examining the joins between the entrance and the corridor outside.

“I’m certain,” Toshiko answered for him.  “I’ve used the labs down the hallway many times since I joined and there was always a solid wall here.

“I’ve also checked the plans.  This room is actually wider than the store rooms that were here before.

“The one at this end contained technical equipment from the seventies for the lab on the right.  The one in the middle was chemical storage for the lab on the left and the one by the back wall contained...”

She blinked, and then looked at Ianto before saying. “It contained nineteen, twelve place dinner services complete with cutlery and glasses from at least eleven alien races.”

“Jack collected dinner services?” Owen asked incredulously.

“Torchwood collected dinner services.  The last valuation of the collection was that it was worth One hundred and forty-five million pounds,” Ianto answered.

“A hundred and forty-five million pounds,” Gwen repeated in disbelief.

“It was worth more than that but one of the sets that they have had since the 1930’s was brought out by the manufacturer in 1993,” Ianto stated.

“That must have been a blow,” Owen said his voice sounding a little distant.

“Not really, apparently there were seven pieces missing and no cruet set so the leader at the time bought them and a butter dish.”

“A hundred and forty-five million pounds.”

“Well it’s all gone now along with our lab supplies,” Toshiko said practically and the other two shook themselves.

“What brought you down here in the first place?” Gwen asked.

“I was doing a visual check of the Hub’s structural integrity.  I know Tosh’s equipment says it’s fine but I thought, what if the sensors were damaged,” Ianto lied so smoothly that if the Doctor hadn’t known the truth he would have believed it.

“Why didn’t you say something Tosh would have helped you,” Owen said.

“I only thought of it this morning, it was one of those thoughts that nagged,” Ianto answered.  The others nodded in understanding.

“Let’s check out the labs on either side,” Gwen ordered.

They walked to the end of the corridor towards the labs that Ianto and Tosh were talking about, only the way was blocked by a solid wall.  While the team were loudly discussing it the Doctor gave the wall a scan with his sonic and found the same readings as were in the mysterious new room.

It took the team all day to explore this level of the Hub.  It seemed that it wasn’t one room that had shifted but many.  Not all from then were from the same dimension judging by the differences in decor and style.

They all gathered in the main part of the Hub to discuss their explorations.  Ianto silently distributed coffee and tea.

“My readings indicated that the configuration of that level changed when we opened the rift,” Tosh stated.

“That much was obvious,” Owen snarked quietly.

“Not completely.  I bet that if we check any of the other levels we will find that they are all exactly the same as they were before,” Tosh replied.

“So the rift only affected one level.  Oh come on that isn’t very likely is it?  The rift is random?” Gwen asked a little confused.

“The rift is random Gwen and its energies shouldn’t have affected the Hub at all.  The infrastructure was designed to earth those energies in order for it to be a safer environment for us to work in.

“The manipulator is the key to that.  When Owen opened the rift to get Jack and I back from 1941 he created cracks because the vital part of the equation was missing.

“Emergency Protocol One was designed as a more controlled opening but it had the same effect, widening those cracks releasing Abbadon.  Everything else then returned to the way it was before Owen opened the rift as a dispersal effect of Abbadon’s rising,” Tosh explained.

“What like taking a solid object out of water and you can see the liquid flowing into its place?” Owen asked.

“Yes only the drops of water knew where they had been before they were disturbed by the object,” Tosh answered.

“What about Rhys?  He didn’t come from the past he was murdered in the present,” Gwen asked frightened.

“He was murdered by a being that could travel in time, who could see possible futures.  Bilis’ link to Abbadon suggests he was also linked to the Rift.

“He showed you a vision of Rhys murdered at home.  You brought him to the cells to be safe and Bilis murdered him there instead.

“After we returned from 1941 they were both possible futures that would get you to open the rift.  Without Bilis’ intervention Rhys would have been safe at home.

“When everything else was reset a murder committed by a rift being was undone, he was returned to where he was supposed to be.  Abbadon became the only thing out of place and then Jack destroyed it.  The release of energy with Abbadon’s death reversed all the deaths it caused and closed the rift again,” Tosh reassured.

“So the earthquake we experienced was the result of the energy going through the manipulator shaking everything up?” Owen asked.

“Yes,” Tosh answered.

“So if the Rift alone couldn’t have caused the change then what did?” Gwen asked.

“That area used to be laboratories.  It could be one of the experiments or a piece of alien tech they were testing, either here or in a Hub in an alternative reality,” Tosh answered with a shrug.

“Okay let’s call it a night.  Ianto in the morning I want to you go through the records find out what those experiments and tests those labs were used for that might cause this and give Tosh your results.

“Owen and I will take the blue prints and confirm that the other levels are the same as they were before just to be sure.

“That level is out of bounds until we find out exactly what caused this and how we can prevent the rooms from being changed again.  We don’t want this to happen again and lose one of us instead of a hundred and forty-five million pounds worth of china, we’re much more precious,” Gwen said with a smile.

In that moment the Doctor realised why Jack liked Gwen.  She had a good heart, it was just that her unresolved issues with the Captain were being rebound onto Ianto.

The Welshman and the Time Lord slipped out of the Hub between Owen’s leaving and Toshiko’s.  On the drive back the Welshman asked.

“Will you help me find out what caused the shift?”

“Yes.  Your Toshiko’s quite brilliant you know,” the Doctor answered.

“Yes she is,” Ianto replied with a fond smile, the first genuine smile of pleasure the Time Lord had seen him wear.


	16. Chapter Sixteen

The Doctor and Ianto spent the evening discussing dimension shifting, avoiding all mention of Canary Wharf, until food and tiredness worked their magic on the Welshman.

The Time Lord, still in his trainers, sat on the vacant side of the bed.  Although they had not spoken of Canary Wharf, it was like an elephant in the room.

Ianto began to toss with nightmares and the Doctor would lean down and whisper soft words to calm him.  The young man responded to the reassurance without waking and seemed more relaxed than the previous two nights, but then he had avoided being this close the previous two nights.

There had been no tears tonight.  Torchwood’s problems were occupying Ianto’s mind at the moment.  The Time Lord could tell he was at last allowing his presence to distract him from the loneliness too.

Sitting on the bed next to the sleeping Welshman was a comfort to the Doctor as well.  All this talk of dimension swapping was too close to the temporal paradox theory for his comfort.

The Master was in Cardiff doing who knew what.  The Doctor always hated the part of time travel where you had to reconcile knowing a person’s fate with seeing them as flesh and blood before you.

Except he couldn’t see the Master, it was far too dangerous.  He would create a paradox of his own if he did and the laws of time pulled him with greater strength than his desire not to be alone, at least for now.

Unconsciously he inched a little closer to Ianto.  The boy might only be human but he was someone… someone who needed him to stay.

Today had been a good day for Ianto but that didn’t mean tomorrow would be.  They others had included him, used his knowledge of the Hub but he was still a step removed, an alien.

 _Maybe that was why the TARDIS was so keen that he help Ianto_.  Not just the potential paradox issues but because she felt he was similar to the Doctor.

_Was it worse to be alone amongst your own kind?  Yes, that was how I felt before I left Gallifry.  I hated all their bureaucracy and traditions and just had to leave._

_Now I’m truly alone, I’m without their interference and I just want them back.  I don’t want to be the mysterious stranger with nothing except a TARDIS to call home._

_The Master is in Cardiff.  Right now he’s still alive.  I wish I could lower the barriers in my mind.  I wish I could take off the perception filter and just reach out._

“No, no please stop.  No please,” Ianto’s words shocked him.

The Welshman had been thrashing in the grips of another nightmare.  The Doctor reached down to calm him but Ianto flung himself up.

The Time Lord groaned as he was pushed aside.  He heard the scrabbling at the bedroom door and looked across in time to see Ianto wrench it open.

He wrestled with the scattered bedcovers and took up pursuit.  Ianto had gotten as far as the hallway but it wasn’t the front door that stopped him.

The Doctor blinked at the sight of Ianto sprawled dazed before his TARDIS.  As he approached it dematerialised.

A quick glance in the lounge saw that the TARDIS was parked in the same place in the lounge that he arrived in.

“You know it’s bad enough me being here as a potential paradox without me interfering you know,” the Time Lord shouted to the air.

Ianto groaned at his feet and he knelt down beside the Welshman.  He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion.

“You had a nightmare.  I think it caused you to sleep walk,” the Time Lord said gently.  Ianto rolled back his head in resignation.

“You get nightmares a lot?”

“Yes.  They stopped for a while but I suppose it was inevitable that they have returned,” Ianto replied not ready yet to get up off the floor.

“How did you stop them?” he asked curious.

“I started sleeping with my boss,” Ianto replied coldly, getting up and heading for the kitchen.

The Doctor winced and followed him.  He was at the sink getting a glass of water.  Ianto’s back was stiff, full of tension as he suppressed his feelings.

“Jack’s immortality,” the Doctor said quietly and the young man half turned lowering the glass from his lips to the sink.

“A friend of mine was responsible for it,” he added and Ianto faced him.  “I don’t think she meant to do what she did, not completely but she did. 

“I don’t just travel space and time they are a part of me.  No one is meant to be immortal like Jack.  In the universe’s harmony he feels like a note of discord.

“He’s my friend, he means a great deal to me but suddenly he was wrong.  I can’t undo it and when it happened I couldn’t face it either so I ran,” the Time Lord confessed quietly.

“And he followed you,” Ianto stated in a low voice.

“Yes.  I can use the rift to fuel my ship and Jack knew that.  Only he ended up at the end of the nineteenth century and joined you lot while he waited,” he said with a slight smile that Ianto only half heartedly returned.

“Jack understood temporal paradoxes so he had to wait for the right version of me to turn up.  A few days ago I did.

“Well I own a time machine I guess he figured he could get his answers and come back.”

“But he didn’t,” Ianto said quietly looking at the floor.

“You are right I’m not supposed to be here.  My presence is causing a potential paradox if Jack had come with me to stay he certainly would have.

“Something terrible happened Ianto.  I took him home, took him where he belonged,” the Doctor said cursing inwardly that it was as close to the truth as he could get.

“I hope he’s happy,” Ianto whispered, his eyes closed.

 _“When this is over let him find happiness,”_ words the Welshman had yet to say echoed in him mind.

It wasn’t a bold shout from the rooftops but those quite words spoke the depth of the young man’s love for Jack.  Deep in misery of his own all he could wish for his lost love were good things.

“I’m sorry, so sorry,” the Doctor didn’t know if he was apologising to the young man before him or the young man he would be.

Martha had had a go at him when she found out he’d left Jack behind.  Jack too had been full of anger.  Ianto was the only one hurt as much by his cowardice as Jack and did the worst thing of all.

“He’s always love you, you know.  Always fight for you, always be there for you.  We all do stupid things when we are scared, especially if we don’t want someone we care about to be hurt by us.  Give him time, you both have plenty of that, and he’ll forgive you,” Ianto said softly brushing away tears the Time Lord hadn’t realised had fallen.

Ianto stretched up and kissed his forehead like a parent might do when they forgive an errant child.  He then turned and walked back up to his room.

The Doctor stood stupidly stunned for several minutes.  He wasn’t supposed to be forgiven.  He was supposed to get a bloody nose and called fifteen foul names at the least.

 _I’m untouchable because Jack loves me.  I’m to be looked after, protected and counselled even though it’s breaking your heart?_ the Time Lord silently asked the emptiness the Welshman had stood in.

He walked over to the TARDIS and rested his head upon the blue panelling.  He felt the soft comfort of his vessel trying to sooth him.

The Doctor stood like that until Ianto had had time enough to cry himself to sleep.  Then he went up to the bedroom, removed his trainers and socks, and lay down on top of the bed covers beside him.

The Time Lord began to meditate, began to set all thoughts of contacting the Master aside.  Tonight had been a painful reminder of what was to happen to Ianto Jones during the year that never was.

He couldn’t indulge in his selfish needs knowing what this young man was willing to sacrifice for love.

“I’m going to look after you, protect you and council you because Jack loves you.  Maybe not yet in the way you love him, but he will come back for you and you can make him happy,” the Doctor said quietly into the sleeping Welshman’s ear.

 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Ianto Jones’ reset button worked as well today as it had the previous two days.  He looked a little more tired but nothing more.

The Doctor could tell that the last night’s incident was affecting him.  He could tell in the way he was only eating his toast because the Time Lord made it for him.

Before he left for work Ianto went upstairs to get something.  Curious the Time Lord followed and caught a glimpse of the Welshman putting a flat box in his inside jacket pocket.

The young man let out a sigh as though he was relieved that a decision had been made.  The Doctor quietly returned to the ground floor before Ianto emerged.

The Doctor volunteered to feed the prisoners and Myfanwy.  Ianto told him to return to the main Hub when he was done.

The Time Lord chose to feed those in the cells first.  He wanted to see the magnificent pterodactyl again as well as take some of the burden of work from Ianto’s shoulders.

After feeding Myfanwy and playing with her the way Ianto had the Doctor made his way back to give the help he promised.  He found the Welshman in a hidden corner of the Hub at a cramped workstation.

There was a cup of hot tea waiting for him despite the fact that Ianto looked like he hadn’t moved for hours.  The Welshman waited patiently for him to take a seat.

“That level had a variety of labs and, although we have always been a small group here, they have been used quite frequently over the last hundred years.  Not all of the records are in the mainframe yet,” he said concerned.

“So we try to narrow the search down before we look,” the Doctor stated and Ianto nodded.

He brought up the two plans of the changed level.  The original was in blue and the new one in red then overlaid them.  The places where they matched turned yellow.

“It isn’t a perfect circle, more like what you would get if you overlapped two different sized circles.  One caused by rift energy the other by our Dimension Changing Element.

“That’s why these rooms here are unaffected, too far from the rift manipulator, there this part was outside the DCE’s radius,” Ianto said gesturing at the maps.

“Yes.  What about these rooms here they seem unaffected?  Although you didn’t actually go in them yesterday,” the Doctor asked indicating four rooms untouched in near the heart of the circle.

“They’re the null-radiation labs.  You need a special suit to go in there which is why we used the CCTV to check.

“They bear up Tosh’s theory that it will only be the one level that is affected.  Those rooms have extra shielding and so do the floors between each level.  The idea is if one level is affected by something like this one is, then it can be isolated and we can work around it,” Ianto replied.

The Doctor felt mildly impressed with the builders of this facility.  He stared at the screen deep in thought.

“Do you know if this has this ever happened before?” the Time Lord asked.

“It hasn’t.  This would count as a major incident and they are all on the computer.”

“Have you always had the rift manipulator?”

“We have had different versions of it but this one has only been in place since the forties,” Ianto replied.

“I think for now then we should eliminate anything from before then.  Torchwood may not have opened the rift before but there might have been rift energy in the base that would have caused dimension shifts,” the Doctor said.

“Okay and I will also remove any experiment the team or Jack may have been involved in.  If this radiation can travel through walls and touch solid objects then it would certainly have touched the experimenters and we’re all here,” Ianto said working away at his programme.

“Then you can probably eliminate anything you’ve come into contact with in the archives,” the Doctor said and Ianto nodded.

“If the experimenters realised that it was giving off some kind of energy or radiation then it was probably stored in the hazard vaults.  Each object there has individual shielding of the same strength as the null-radiation labs and the vaults have extra shielding on top of that.  Things placed in the hazard vaults cannot be retrieved,” Ianto said quietly.

“That’s a good thing,” the Doctor reassured guessing what sort of materials such a vault would contain.  Ianto smiled briefly at him and he smiled back.

While Ianto concentrated on ordering the records the Doctor wandered around the Hub.  He tidied away some of the rubbish and looked at everyone’s workstations.

He looked up as the door alarm sounded and Toshiko entered.  The Time Lord and the technical genius both looked at Ianto still fully engrossed in his work.

She smiled and, after depositing her things at her workstation, headed up to the kitchen.  The Time Lord wandered at the Welshman’s lack of reaction.  _I suppose when you have to deal with Jack as a distraction the door alarm is nothing._

He followed Toshiko when she headed towards Ianto baring two mugs of tea.

“Good morning Ianto,” she said pleasantly grinning as he jumped.

“Good morning Toshiko.  Thank you,” he said taking the offered tea.  “Sorry I was just...”

“Completely engrossed, I understand,” she told him and leant forward to look at what he was doing.

“This is good work Ianto,” she said and the Welshman blushed and murmured thanks.

“Eliminate the biological experiments from the lists.  They are not likely to have caused this and are more Owen’s area of expertise than mine,” she told him and Ianto went back to his program.

“Looking at your map I would say the easiest way of preventing this from happening again would be to just tear down all the changed walls and build new ones in.  We wouldn’t have to do the whole floor just the affected areas,” she said thoughtfully.

“When we have found the cause I will start researching the feasibility of doing as you suggest.  We might have to get in builders from outside I’ll check how viable an option that is,” Ianto stated.

Tosh blinked at him looking a little taken aback.  Her eyes were full of concern as she watched him continuing to work away.

“No hurry.  I’m sure Gwen and Owen will want a five day debate before they decide take action,” she said quietly.

Ianto didn’t look at her but he smiled briefly.  Relief shone in Toshiko’s eyes.  She might not always have time but she did care about the Welshman’s wellbeing.

“We’ll start with the most recent experiments.  Send me the first ten and I’ll check them out,” Tosh said politely.

“They’re at your station,” Ianto replied.

“Thank you Ianto,” she answered and headed to her workstation.

The Doctor left the two of them working and headed down to the archives.  He started up the computer and checked the instructions on Ianto’s How To Guide.

He went off in search of the manual records for the changed labs so that they would be ready for when Ianto needed them.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

The Doctor knew Ianto was up to something when Gwen suggested he take an early night and the Welshman agreed.  He looked exhausted but the Time Lord felt that it was Tosh or Owen who had prompted Gwen’s generosity, especially given the foul mood the she had been in all day.

They left through the cogwheel door, went up through the Tourist Office and to Ianto’s car.  However after driving for five minutes in the right direction the Welshman suddenly turned and headed in another.

The young man parked in a multi-story car park and they walked along the shops until they reached the door of a notary public.  Ianto used a key to let himself in.

There was a corridor leading to a staircase where the notary’s office was.  Instead Ianto looked up at the security camera that covered the entrance.

A section of the floor slid silently open revealing a staircase going down.  The Welshman and the Time Lord quickly hopped down the stairs before the entrance sealed shut behind them.

The darkness felt ominous to the Doctor, despite the low lights.  He was fed up with silences and began to talk.  It seemed only appropriate to rehearse his lecture on ‘the corridor throughout the centuries’.

Silently in the dark Ianto reached out and took his hand.  It was reassuring yet the gesture felt wrong to him.

The Doctor was an experienced hand holder.  He loved walking or running and holding on to someone’s hand.

Ianto on the other hand was a reserved person and the gesture was wrong for him.  For a moment the Doctor felt like he was overcome by that strange role reversal the young man caused in him, where he felt like the child to Ianto’s adult.

Then he looked at Ianto’s face etched in shadows.  While this corridor was familiar and held no fear for him, he wanted the reassurance of another.  The Time Lord was struck by the impression that the Welshman was getting ready to say goodbye.

The long corridor ended with a security coded door that the Welshman entered.  The whole atmosphere on the other side told the Time Lord they were back in the Hub at that it was time to be silent again.

The Doctor recognised the area near the shooting range from his tour yesterday.  Ianto took them through a security door they hadn’t gone though yesterday and the Time Lord was surprised to see what looked like the remains of an underground train station in the dim light.

There was a nearby door that looked like it belonged on the front of a house and the Welshman lead them there.  Ianto stopped for a moment outside before pressing forward.

Light and smell hit the Doctor as soon as the door opened forcing him to close his eyes.  A little stale but the aroma of Jack’s pheromones saturated the place.

When the Welshman let go of his hand the Time Lord opened his eyes.

There was an unmade four poster bed with satin burgundy sheets, _not very practical_.  Also the number of digital cameras and the big screen didn’t actually suggest a bedroom.

As Ianto moved around the bed the Time Lord was drawn to the wardrobes.  He had never been able to resist looking inside cupboards so he opened one.

And shut it immediately.

_I’m in Jack Harkness’s sex pad.  I’m in a room dedicated to sex that belongs to Jack Harkness.  I’m in Jack’s sex room with his lover._

The Doctor turned to Ianto but he was standing completely still at one of the bedside tables.  He wandered over and saw the felt line box Ianto had taken from home this morning, open, in the young man’s hands.

Inside were three dog collars.  One black with what looked like top quality diamonds, one was red with Orali Sea gems and the third was blue with Terranali Rubies.

In the right circles the contents of that box were worth five times that of Torchwood’s missing dinner services.

Ianto’s fingers caressed the diamond collar before he closed the box.  He placed it on the bedside table and turned away.

It was a gesture the Doctor had seen in many soap operas.  It was the gesture of a woman placing her engagement ring by her fiancée’s bed before leaving him forever.

Yet Ianto did not walk completely away.  He hesitated, _not yet ready to say goodbye to Jack._

The Welshman took off his shoes and socks before lighting some of the candles lying around the room.  He then removed his jacket, dimmed the lights and climbed on the bed with a remote control.

Jack and Ianto’s image came up on the screen behind him.  From the look on the Welshman’s face it was the first time he had seen this room.

“When I became the...” Jack’s voice sounded and was swiftly muted.

Ianto then skipped the action forward a few times.  There was a flash of Jack’s naked being and the Doctor turned away.

It wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen his former companion naked before, but there was a look in his eye that reminded the Doctor of the purpose of this room.  He did not want to watch one of Jack’s homemade sex films.

He turned to say something to Ianto and stopped himself.  The Welshman was holding a pillow between his chest and knees and he was looking at the film as though it was high tragedy.

The Doctor turned back to the screen his eyes directed towards the top of the screen.  Jack was behind Ianto, his arms wrapped possessively around the Welshman.  They seemed to be talking but he didn’t want to check.

The Time Lord came and sat on the bed, facing him but not obscure the screen.  He took the young man’s hand again and was comforted by the slight squeeze.

“How did you feel after Canary Wharf?” Ianto asked quietly.

“What?” the Doctor almost shouted back disturbed by the question.

“Were you the same person or did you feel different?  I was different.  I was a little like them, I had the immortality of youth, a little of their arrogance, knowing you know more than other people.

“I never had their adrenaline buzz though,” Ianto said quietly, focusing now on the Doctor.

 “You get that, the excitement, when you have unknown beings to face, strange things to see and mysteries to solve.  You light up, it makes you feel alive.”

Ianto reached out with his free hand and brushed the Time Lord’s cheek.  Unconsciously the Doctor leaned into it even though its intimacy frightened him.

“Caresses, kisses, soft words, silent passions that’s what makes me feel alive, empowered, extraordinary,” Ianto said letting his hand fall and his attention return to the screen.

The Doctor turned back to the screen as well.  From their faces the activity had turned more physical.  Without sound it looked rather painful but there was a light in their eyes as they looked at each other.

For a moment the Time Lord felt very jealous.  Not of either man but of their closeness, emotional as well as physical.

It had been a long time since he had had that intimacy.  Physical, emotional and spiritual, even in silence a oneness radiated from Jack and Ianto.  The Doctor could now see the tragedy that the young man felt.

 “After I lost Lisa I never thought I’d feel that way again.  Certainly never intended to feel that way about Jack, I knew what I was getting, thought I was safe.

“When I realised I was so afraid to tell him.  So afraid...” the sentence trailed off because there was no point in finishing.  To Ianto what he had feared had come to pass anyway, Jack had left.

 “What did he see?” Ianto asked.

“He saw a whore.”

Before the Time Lord could react to the harsh voice, as felt Ianto being shoved into him.  There was no time to brace himself.  He hit the floor with his head and darkness met him.

 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Ianto’s fall was broken by the Doctor.  His hand crushed into the remote and the sounds of sex suddenly filled the air.

He scrambled off the helpless Time Lord but couldn’t get very far as a few blows struck him.  He curled up with his hand over his ears trying to block out the sounds of false passion.

Ianto barely registered the intruder who was destroying everything.  Part of him was thankful as he didn’t have the resolve to destroy the lie himself.

Nothing was left untouched.  Wardrobes and drawers were opened and their contents hauled out and chucked over him and the carpet.  The candles and camera swept out of the way.

Once they were empted they were then attacked themselves.  Clothes ripped, toys hurled futilely.  The screen were Ianto proved himself a whore was slashed with blade.

“Stop it Gwen, stop it,” Owen’s voice called out.

Ianto didn’t look but the sound destruction stopped.  He felt someone close beside him, he guessed it was Toshiko but he flinched as she tried to touch him anyway.

“Let go of me,” Gwen screeched as the Doctor came round.

The Welshwoman’s voice made no sense to him as his ears were ringing slightly.  When he corrected that, the Time Lord wished she would just shut up.

“He’s been lying to us.  He knows where Jack’s gone.  He’s been deceiving us.  He left the Hub we all saw him.  How did he get in?  What is he planning?” she yelled.

“He isn’t planning anything.  It’s his job to know all the unused entrances to the Hub and Jack and I know all about them too,” Tosh’s voice was angry in Ianto’s ear and he tried to make himself even smaller.

“Ianto doesn’t know where Jack is.  He was with us remember.  You saw Jack’s face on the CCTV it was a spur of the moment decision.   Ianto didn’t even know Jack was immortal,” Owen growled as he gripped the struggling Welshwoman firmly.

“But all this time...”

“So what?  It’s their business not ours,” Toshiko said.

“Look at them Gwen,” Owen said turning her to face the screen.  “I told you Jack wanted into Ianto’s pants and can you blame him.  I certainly wouldn’t kick that out of bed if it was offered to me.”

The ex-PC sagged in Owen’s arms.  The hurt at hearing those words from a former lover contorted her face.

“Don’t you think Jack’s leaving hurt Ianto too?  At least he is trying to sort himself out instead of mooning around the Hub and picking on the most vulnerable member of the team,” Owen hissed.

The Doctor couldn’t decide if that was a spiteful rebuke or a justified one.  As he was becoming quite fond of Ianto he chose justified.

Any further argument was halted by Tosh’s sudden exclamation of “Oh!”

The lit candles Gwen had knocked over in her violent anger had fallen onto the bed.  The bedding suddenly burst into flames.

Gwen and Owen barely had time to register the look of pure horror on Ianto’s face before he was up and running from the room.  Knocking them out of the way.


	20. Chapter Twenty

Toshiko and the Doctor chased after him.  Even barefoot the Welshman was too quick for them.  As they got to the central Hub they could see him leaving through the ceiling on the invisible lift.

Tosh immediately ran to her workstation and grabbed a PDA and her bag.  She raced though the cogwheel door and up through the Tourist Office with the Doctor silently in toe.

She checked her PDA as she ran towards Ronald Dhal Plass.  Ianto was not in sight but whatever she was looking at was directing her towards town not the bay.

Toshiko looked confused but the Doctor realised instantly where Ianto had gone.  He set off at a dead run and he could hear the technical genius’ heals following.

_Of all the things to not consider.  So much time worrying about what a potential paradox you are you forgot that Ianto could create one._

_This is why I’m here.  Foolish, foolish Time Lord.  Last night’s nightmare should have been a clue.  No wonder I decided to interfere._

The Doctor was easily outdistancing Toshiko.  She didn’t know where she was going and those heals were bound to slow her a bit, plus he had longer legs and centuries more experience at running.

The Time Lord saw the lights of the motorcycle escort as he spotted Ianto.  He put on another burst of speed and tackled the young man into an alley.

Grabbing hold of the Welshman’s hand he ran further in, away from the hotel and it’s VIP guest that had to avoided at all costs.  The Doctor didn’t halt until Ianto stopped struggling.

He turned to the frightened young man and held onto him.  He spoke in a desperate ramble and stroked Ianto’s back until he felt the trembling calm.

Only as Ianto’s shaking stopped did he begin to feel himself relax.  He doubted the Welshman’s rigid self control would return soon but he just needed him to stop panicking.

After a few moments the Doctor realised his hand was tracing a pattern on the Welshman’s back.  He could feel a familiar energy; feel its effect on Ianto.

At first he thought it was the ancient Terolian equivalent of Bad Wolf.  Then he realised it was a set of letters from one of the fifty-first century colonies.

The letters in themselves meant nothing to the Doctor but combined with that energy trace meant Jack.  The Time Lord had no idea what possessed Jack to mark Ianto in this way or even how he managed it.

He didn’t know whether to feel angry or grateful that the link that they provided between him and Ianto was calming the Welshman.  The pull of emotional memory within that mark was strong, so tempting.

Now he knew why the young man’s punishment at the hands of the Master had been so severe.  This mark, as much as Ianto’s attitude, sealed his fate.

The clicking sound of heals made the Doctor pull away.  Toshiko ignored him and went straight to Ianto.

She took the Welshman’s hand and led him to one of the main roads.  She didn’t ask questions but bundled him into a taxi, and only quick work on his part allowed the Doctor to come too.


	21. Chapter Twenty-one

The taxi did not pull up in front of Ianto’s house so the Time Lord assumed it was Toshiko’s.  She just held his hand the whole journey and only spoke when deflecting questions from the cabman.

The Doctor began to worry.  It probably wasn’t wise to follow them into the house but at the same time he didn’t want to leave Ianto.

The Welshman’s wellbeing was more important than his need to be invisible.  He knew enough about Toshiko to know she was caring and Ianto’s friend, for him she might be willing to keep the Doctor’s presence a secret.

Tosh ignored the Time Lord as she attended to her friend.  She sent him into the showers with a T-shirt and boxer shorts that seemed to be Ianto’s size.

“Owen,” she said into her mobile phone as soon as the water sounded.  “I have him we’re at my place... Okay I’ll see you in couple of hours.”

Ianto emerged and she tended his feet before tucking him into the bed.  She sat beside him stroking his hair until he fell asleep.

She then got off the bed and routed through her hand bag for something.  The Doctor wasn’t surprised when the gun was suddenly waved in his face.

Toshiko gestured for him to go ahead of her into the lounge before her.  He turned to face her.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the Doctor, Jack’s Doctor,” he answered.

“Has he come back?” she asked.

“I didn’t bring him with me.”

“What are you doing here?” Toshiko demanded.

“The same as you, looking after Ianto.”

“Why?” she asked lowering her gun.

“It’s complicated.”

 “And if you care about his wellbeing as you claim you will explain anyway,” Tosh replied.

So the Doctor told her and Toshiko Sato wept for her friend.

 “I’m now supposed to forget that?” she asked calming herself with a sip of the tea she had made them.

“Right now it is something that is going to happen and never going to happen.  You must try not to let what I said rule your decisions.  I know it’s not easy.  I remember it so clearly but I have to ignore it to or risk something worse happening,” the Doctor told her sadly.

“The Master and I were friends once.  We were at the academy together before we went our separate ways with our separate philosophies.

“I’m the last of my kind, or will be soon.  It’s so tempting just to...” the Doctor reached out with his hand as though to grab something and Toshiko took it.

All his stories about alternative times and dark fates might be a bit much for her to take in but loneliness she understood.  The small gesture was enough to allow him to relax a little.

“What happened to Ianto was one of the hardest things I had to forgive him for,” the Doctor said quietly.

“You forgave him,” Tosh said in disbelief.

“Punishment and revenge would have only caused more pain.  Don’t you feel better knowing Jack forgave you for opening the rift?  I know your friend Owen is clinging to his forgiveness,” at his words her eyebrow rose but she said nothing.

“With forgiveness comes healing not just for the one being forgiven but for yourself.  I’m the Doctor, one who makes things better,” he said almost to himself.

“I’m sorry but I’m not sure I’m capable of forgiving that,” she said quietly.

“Well if things turn out the way they’re supposed to then you will never have to,” he replied and she smiled.

There was a sound from the bedroom and they both instantly went there.  Ianto was tossing and turning in a nightmare.

Both of his self appointed guardians stroked him gently and whispered to him until he returned to a calm sleep.  They looked at each other over the prone form and smiled.

“How did you find him tonight?  He left his phone behind how did you find us?” the Doctor asked quietly as they moved away.

“There’s a tracker in his watch,” Tosh replied not making eye contact.

“I know Jack may have some trust issues with Ianto in the past but keeping a tracker on him,” the Doctor exclaimed with disappointment.

“Jack didn’t put the tracker on him I did,” Tosh confessed quietly.

The Doctor turned to her and stared.

“Jack took us all on a mission to the Brecon Beacons.  It was a simple missing persons case and I think he wanted to use it as an opportunity for a team building exercise, it not long after we found out about Lisa.

“It sort of had a doomed feeling when Gwen’s idea of team building involved asking everyone who their last snog was,” she said bitterly.

“Not good?”

“Gwen’s answer was boring, mine was embarrassing, Owen’s was surprising, Jack evaded answering and Ianto’s was Lisa, so that was the conversation stopper.”

“Not very tactful then,” the Doctor reasoned and Tosh smiled sadly.

“No, Jack partnered Ianto and me together.  We were captured but he sacrificed his freedom to give me a change to escape.  It wasn’t aliens they were human, cannibals.

“I promised myself that I would look after him and our friendship deepened from there,” she said smiling and the memory of their dinners together.

“There are some events that do that,” the Time Lord said understanding.

“A few days afterwards he discovered that his watch had stopped.  I offered to repair it and added the tracker at the same time.  I wanted to make sure I could always find him.  He has done the same for me, a lot of my jewellery has trackers in them, I always make sure to wear one,” she told him looking for understanding and he smiled that he did.  She took a deep breath and relaxed before looking down at her sleeping friend.

“How did Gwen find us?” he asked cagily.

“She traced his phone but you have Jack’s complete lack of subtlety to blame for her wanting to find him,” Tosh answered mildly angry.

“Huh?”

“Gwen has been trying to get into Jack’s personal files on his computer.  That’s what she does in his office when not dealing with paperwork.

“The door to _that_ room is linked to an alert which is flagged up on Jack’s computer,” Tosh said going slightly red.

“What sort of alert?” the Doctor asked misinterpreting her reaction.

“Let’s just say that Gwen knew how photogenic Ianto was before she intruded and that in my opinion the caption “Hot and Waiting” was probably completely unnecessary,” she stated and it was the Doctor’s turn to feel himself go slightly red.

Further conversation was interrupted by the buzz of Tosh’s mobile.  She answered it swiftly stepping out of the room.

“Owen’s arrived, wait here,” she said popping her head around the door briefly before going to let Torchwood’s medic in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those wondering what the Doctor told Toshiko, I didn't want to say because it would have meant there were spoilers for Company of a Ghost. However, because I also knew that the archive warnings might put some readers off Company of a Ghost, I have written this conversation and it will be published as a one shot after I've put Company of a Ghost on the archive, and there will be series links to it for all readers.


	22. Chapter Twenty-two

“Alright where is he?” Owen asked barging past Tosh and into her house.  He dropped a black overnight bag carelessly on the floor.

“He’s sleeping in my room,” she answered closing the door.

“So you wouldn’t chuck him out of bed given the opportunity either,” Owen said and Tosh turned angrily to him.   “Yes I know that was inappropriate,” he added seeing the look on her face.

“Yes it was.  I told myself that I never wanted to see that look on his face again only it wasn’t made by aliens or cannibals this time, it was one of us.

“And what’s worse is that now she’s succeeded in undoing all the good Jack did for him since Lisa died.  Then he’ll just come back to work tomorrow and he will have accepted it.

“If you want to try his skills in bed I’m sure he’ll let you, he’ll probably just accept that too,” she shouted as quietly as she could.

“I wouldn’t do that!  You know that don’t you Tosh?” Owen asked panicked until Tosh sighed and nodded.

“Besides he’s not coming in tomorrow and neither are you.  He’s on one week’s compulsory medical leave; I’ll be back tomorrow to give him a check up.

“Gwen’s taking the day off and so are you, look after him.  I can handle the Hub for a day by myself.  I’ll only call you in if I need you and that way we can all have a little space,” Owen told her.

She smiled gratefully at Owen and he relaxed a little.

“What happened after we left?” she asked.

“We put out the fire, turned everything off, I had a go at her and she went sobbing home to Rhys.  Look I know it doesn’t seem like it right now but she is a good person, she’s just a bit stressed,” Owen said placating.

“We’re all stressed but we don’t overreact like that.  I can’t believe you’re defending her,” Tosh said angrily.

“I’m not, you know me, world worst peacemaker.  Gwen’s a passionate person, she lets her feelings sway her and this was just too much.

“Look when she first joined I couldn’t see the point.  I figured it was Jack reacting to Suzie’s suicide, the fact that he hadn’t noticed her becoming consumed by the glove.  That and the fact that Gwen’s hot.

“He was right though.  Her perspective isn’t like ours and that’s a good thing.  We depend on our knowledge and equipment but when it comes to humanity we’re a little lost,” Owen said again trying to pacify her.

“Where’s her humanity when it comes to Ianto?” she demanded.

“All right so sometimes humanity is overrated,” Owen replied and received an unintentional twitch from Tosh’s lips.

“Look inside Gwen’s toughened beat cop exterior there is a passionate romantic school girl.  Knowing Jack was immortal, the way he let her talk to him, the answers he gave only her and that way Jack has of making you feel special all bubbled in that school girl heart.

“Jasmine put a dent in the hero mystic but our encounter with Suzie made him sparkle again.  Somewhere in her there is the fantasy notion that she’s the one who can heal Mr Tall Dark and Brooding, and her being the one to wake Jack up after he was dead for days only added fuel to the fire, even if he did run off shortly afterwards.  Hell if this was a film she’d ditch the deadbeat boyfriend and they would live a life of passion and crime fighting,” Owen paused to look at Tosh and could see that she was looking at her floor.

He could tell she understood everything he was saying about Gwen’s feelings but he hadn’t expected her to.  Owen was fairly sure she had no feelings of her own towards Jack.

Watching through a crack in the bedroom door the Doctor smiled sadly in understanding, not of Gwen but of Tosh.  It hadn’t been obvious before and he felt sorry for her.

“Only Rhys isn’t a deadbeat boyfriend.  I don’t think she realised how much she loved him until she almost lost him.  The price in opening the rift, for getting Rhys back was to sacrifice Jack.  She exchanged one man she loved for another,” he explained.

“More than just guilt,” Tosh whispered recalling their conversation a few days ago.

“Yeah.  She brought him back, she had faith he’d return and then it turns out that that special place she thought he had reserved for her in his affections is already occupied by a practically anonymous tea boy,” Owen said then added, “Sorry,” under her glare.

“Things have also come unstuck for her at home.  I think after she ended her thing with me she became a lot more amorous towards Rhys.  Then she leaves him for four days and starts coming home secretive, stressed and cranky.  Can you blame him for not taking that well?”

“No,” Tosh conceded.

“We all just need a little time to de-stress.  If Jack comes back, he comes back, if he doesn’t, he doesn’t we have to be prepared either way,” Owen said philosophically.

“You don’t seem to be too bad at this peacekeeping business,” Toshiko said with a smile.

“That’s because you’re my two favourite ladies.  I would be crap if it was Ianto or Jack and I have the bullet wound to prove it,” Owen said returning her smile as she beamed.

“I should go and let you get your sleep.  I’ll be back tomorrow morning to give him a check up,” Owen said heading towards the door.

“I’ll look after him,” Toshiko promised.

He opened the front door to let himself out and hesitated.

“You know you should think of a project that the two of you can do together.  He spends most of his time in the archives or in the Tourist Office, isolating himself it can’t be good for him,” Owen said.

“I’ll give it some thought.  Good night,” she said.

“Good night Tosh,” he replied closing the door behind him.


	23. Chapter Twenty-three

The Doctor backed away from the open bedroom door as Tosh approached and was therefore as surprised as she to find Ianto awake.

“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” she said softly.

“You were rather agitated.  Did Owen bring some things for me?  You’ll want to rest.  I’ll...”

“Yes he did and you will stay right where you are.  You’re the least likely member of the team to be kicked out of another team member’s bed remember,” she said smiling and Ianto lay back and groaned.

“You all saw,” he said his eyes shut.

She walked around the bed and lay down beside him on top of the covers.

“I was more concerned about you but I saw a little.  You surprised me,” she said softly.

“Jack asked.”

“I thought he had,” Tosh said sadly.

“No it’s not like that I...  I didn’t know he couldn’t die but sometimes.  It was like I looked in his eyes and could see my own mortality there, I could see that he knew he’s outlive me.

“He said he wanted to remember that night and... It’s difficult to explain,” he said turning to her again.

“You don’t have to say anything more, it’s probably none of my business,” she said softly seeing confusion in his eyes.

“I belonged to him,” Ianto said softy.

She didn’t get a chance to voice her disapproval before he added.

“No not in the Master and Slave kind of way.  I mean if you had seen us the second time you would never have thought that.”

“You filmed yourselves a second time,” she said in disbelief.

“Yeah, that one was my idea,” Ianto said looking down at himself, blushing slightly.

“Because you belonged to him,” Toshiko said softly stroking his arm.

He was quite and she could see him thinking, see him trying to figure out a way of explaining.  She remembered the conversation she had had with him before the business with the Weevil fight club.

Jack and Ianto had begun their relationship as a friendship with sex.  She wasn’t sure how that worked but it obviously was not casual to either of them.

“Life is a jigsaw puzzle, one that, if you’re luck, has no box and no picture and is only finished when you die.  It’s ever changing as you do and it isn’t square.

“It’s like one of those three dimensional puzzles you get of famous landmarks because your pieces interlock with those of other peoples.  You share pieces so that pieces of your puzzle become pieces of their puzzle and vice versa.

“The pieces change shape all the time and sometimes they don’t fit anymore.  Sometimes pieces stay all your life and sometimes they drift, sometimes you leave them and sometimes they are taken from you.

“When Jack asked me to make that first film I felt that my pieces and his fitted so well as boss and employee, friends and lovers that I could tell that, even if our relationship didn’t last, it would be death that took me from him.

“I wanted him to remember me, have a piece of me for after I’m gone.  I didn’t care if it would be just something to help him get off, at least in a way I’d still be there for him.

“When you were in 1941 Jack’s jigsaw pieces were touched by pieces of another puzzle and I thought he didn’t want my pieces anymore.  That they weren’t as important to him as his were to me.

“There were a lot of Jack’s pieces in my puzzle and I gave him a lot of mine because they fitted.  Now he’s gone and he’s taken most of those pieces with him.  I’m incomplete and all the remaining pieces have twisted out of shape,” Ianto said his eyes staring into nowhere.

Tosh took his hands and interlaced their fingers together.  She waited until his eyes turned to her before speaking.

“I’ve never had another person’s pieces touch mine in that way.  I thought Mary’s did for a while but her pieces were fake.  There’s someone whose pieces I wanted to have linked with mine like that but that’s not likely to happen really.

“I rather like the way our pieces have been linked together these past months.  Your pieces may be a little out of shape but I think they still fit,” she said hopefully.

“Yes Tosh they still fit,” the Welshman answered and received a smile.

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” she asked and he shook his head.

“How about I grab a shower and get changed and you have a look through my DVD collection.  Then we can bundle up in blankets and eat chocolate ice cream and watch a DVD or is that to girly for you?” she asked more with concern than teasing.

“I did the manly thing last time.  I can be girly this time,” he answered with a sad smile.

“Okay then,” she said with a smile and squeeze of his hand then grabbed her night things and headed for the shower.

Unnoticed in the shadows the Doctor closed his eyes.  _Oh Jack did it have to take a year of torture for you to find where your jigsaw pieces fit?_


	24. Chapter Twenty-four

Despite supposedly being invisible the Doctor felt very out of place.  He was sat next to Ianto on Tosh’s sofa, in his suit, while the two of them wore their night things and were wrapped in blankets.

All three of them had chocolate milkshakes and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.  Finding six tubs in Toshiko’s freezer raised an eyebrow.  However they were six different flavours and she explained that liked to just pick whichever flavour she was in the mood for.

The Doctor wasn’t quite sure how he managed to get away with having chocolate milk and ice cream.  Ianto simply handed them to him and Tosh winked but otherwise pretended not to notice.

They settled with their ice cream and Tosh turned on the DVD.  It was her turn to raise an eyebrow at Ianto.

“‘Friends’, aren’t you taking this girly thing a little too far?”

“It always used to make Lisa feel better,” he stated.

“Oh Ianto,” she said sympathetically.

“It was the only thing I fancied,” he confessed.

“It makes me feel better to.  I always like to watch when I’m down or ill.  You can enjoy them without having to follow the plot,” she said apologetically.

“They have plots?” Ianto asked seriously.

She looked at him in concern then noticed a slight twitch in his lips.  They both started laughing for a few moments before settling down to watch.

After the first two episodes they put the ice cream away and settled together to watch some more.  Half way through the second side they were both asleep and it took the Doctor a whole episode to realise.

They looked peaceful and innocent leaning towards each other.  Ianto looked like the protector rather than Tosh.

He knew though that they would both be uncomfortable in the morning.  The Doctor figured as they were both pretending he was invisible and that the other didn’t know they knew, he could get away with moving them.

He carried Toshiko to the bedroom first and then Ianto.  They both shifted so that they faced each other although he placed them a good five inches apart.  Instinct also made them seek the other’s hand and hold it.

A knot in the Time Lord’s heart relaxed.  Tosh might be busy saving the world but she was obviously a friend Ianto was fond of, one who could help him look after the Welshman.

The Doctor hesitated.  There wasn’t any room for him to sit on the bed too and the chair looked uncomfortable.  Ianto didn’t really need him tonight as he had Toshiko.

As his hesitation had him creeping towards the bedroom door he wondered if he could get away with watching another disc, if he turned the volume down low enough.  He should go back into the lounge to turn the TV and DVD machine off anyway.

Settling back on the sofa with the discarded blankets around him he pressed play.

_I just want to find out if Janice will turn out to be an alien.  I’m sure that laugh is the mating call of a Trelurick._

 

A hand on his shoulder followed by the smell of tea and toast woke the Time Lord with a start.  Ianto smiled briefly at him before handing breakfast over.

“Tosh is just in the shower,” Ianto said sitting beside him.

The Welshman was dressed in jeans and a dark green jumper.  His feet were bare and he tried to keep them off the floor.

“Was Janice an alien?” the Time Lord asked.

“No she’s from New York,” Ianto replied his brow furrowing.

“I thought her laugh was similar to the call of a Telurick,” the Doctor explained.

Ianto shook his head.  “Telurick’s turn green under bright lights.”

“So they do.  How do you know that?  They haven’t been here have they?” the Time Lord asked concerned and worried.

“Jack told me,” the Welshman said quietly getting up.

Ianto headed for the kitchen and began to make tea and toast for him and Toshiko.  The Doctor folded up the blanket and tidied up the DVD’s before following him.

“You know your way around Tosh’s kitchen,” he stated trying to strike up conversation.

“Jack and I stayed here after the incident with the cannibals Tosh and Owen were discussing last night.  None of us wanted to be alone,” Ianto answered quietly.

“I’m sorry.  All I seem to be doing this morning is drag up unhappy memories,” the Time Lord apologised.

“You are famous for your curiosity, who am I to curb it?” Ianto asked with a sad smile.  “They’re all locked up in prisons for the criminally insane.  They can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

That was not really the memory the Doctor was talking about but he let it slide.  He decided silence was best for the time being.

Toshiko emerged in a casual outfit and the doorbell rang.  She flashed them a quick smile before heading for the door.

The Doctor headed back into the bedroom to make himself scares as Owen came in.  Two members of Torchwood knowing he was here was awkward enough he couldn’t risk a third.


	25. Chapter Twenty-five

The Time Lord regretted leaving Ianto alone as the Welshman became withdrawn as soon as the medic came into the room.  Toshiko hovering near him was reassuring.

Owen conducted his medical exam thoroughly and professionally.  He cracked no jokes and asked only serious questions.

“You do know you are on five days medical leave don’t you,” Owen stated as he concluded as he began to pack up his things.

“I don’t need it,” Ianto said softly.

“Yes you do, you need to sort yourself out,” Owen replied curtly.

“You didn’t...” Ianto began but trailed off.

“Yeah I tried to go on a bender every night and ended up in a cage fight with a Weevil.  I topped that off by opening the rift twice and shooting my boss.

“You’re trying to work yourself to death.  You might not get around to the part where it actually kills you but it might accidently kill one of us,” Owen snapped and Ianto blanched.

“You’re probably thinking with Jack gone, we’re going to need you but not like this.  So you are on preventative medical leave.

“If we really need you, we will contact you.  You are also going to keep regular contact with Tosh to keep up on all the gossip,” Owen stated gathering up his things.

Ianto remained seated looking blank and the medic headed for the door.

“Enjoy the rest of your day,” he said over his shoulder as he went out.

Ianto stared after him unmoving.  There was an edge of horror in the Welshman’s eyes as he realised that he no longer had work as a barrier to the pain of heartbreak.

“Hey,” Tosh said softly making Ianto jolt.

He looked at her then sagged a little as tension drained out of him.  She hovered close but did not touch him until he turned and gave her a small smile.

“Sorry I don’t really like being prodded and poked.  Especially as I’ve upset Owen a lot recently,” Ianto said.

“You mean when you shot him,” Tosh said and Ianto winced.  “I think you were forgiven when we thought Jack was dead the second time, he just isn’t one to say it.”

Ianto nodded and looked down at his hands.

“At least he didn’t mention the porn,” she said trying to lighten things up.

“You know what he said about me last night, he didn’t mean it.  He was just saying that to have a go a Gwen,” Ianto babbled. 

The Doctor, who was just slipping into the room, realised Ianto knew about Tosh’s feelings for Owen.  He could tell though that the technical genius wasn’t aware that the Welshman was being reassuring with her next words.

“Oh I know he said it to have a go at Gwen but he did mean it.”

“But he doesn’t even like me,” Ianto exclaimed in alarm.

“I’m not sure Owen likes a quarter of the people he’s bedded, less chance of being hurt that way.  Like Jack, he’d shag anything gorgeous enough,” she said sadly.

“Anything gorgeous but meaningless,” Ianto said softly and Tosh looked at him and knew her secret crush was known.  She blushed furiously.

“I played the friend card too remember.  It’s just that Jack is more flexible about what he’s willing to do with his friends.

“That’s all we were in the end.  I never asked for anything more, I shouldn’t expect anything more.  He just ended up meaning more to me than...” Ianto sighed telling Tosh that there were several ways to end that sentence and all painfully true.

“No more of that.  If your feet are up to it we’re going to go to Cardiff Castle,” she said cheerfully.

“Cardiff Castle,” Ianto said incredulously.

“I may be permitted the day off but unlike you I’m still on emergency call so I can’t go anywhere too far and I like to be careful of road safety.

“We just have to go and collect our cars and then we can go to the Castle.  You know I have only been there once in all the years I’ve lived here, and that was on a case.  It would be nice just to enjoy its history,” she said with a smile.

Ianto agreed and began to do the washing up while Toshiko got ready.  They ordered a cab to collect them and were ready just before it arrived.

Both human beings nodded and smiled at the Time Lord telling him that he was welcome to come with them.  There surreptitiousness amused him and he got into the cab ahead of the Welshman.

There was sadness in Ianto’s eyes but as the Taxi started up the Doctor could see him putting on a brave face for Tosh.  Hopefully a day away from everything was exactly what the young man needed.

 


	26. Chapter Twenty-six

The Taxi had to drop Ianto and the Doctor off first as they had parked in town.  After a diversion to buy sandwiches, snacks and drinks for lunch, they waited outside the castle for Toshiko to join them.

“You know I’ve never been to a historic site as a tourist before,” the Time Lord said after a while.

“I expected when you visit places of interest, like the Castle, they are still being used by the original owners,” Ianto replied understanding.

“Yeah, I have never seen the point of seeing something when it’s old when you can see it new.”

“If old is all you’re ever going to get you just have to accept it.  We don’t all have time travel to make everything new.

“I wonder if in a thousand years, when mankind travels the stars and Torchwood and its secrecy are no longer needed, you could do a tour of the Hub?  They could be going on about our wonderful work and we could be idolised like heroes.  Then you could stroll along and laugh.

“You could tell them that we weren’t all aliens and scientific research for the benefit of mankind.  You could say that in between we were all about pizza, sex and arguments.

“You could let slip that you know that Jack’s desk they were admiring is sturdy craftsmanship.  It can take the weight of two grown men and a stopwatch,” Ianto’s tone was neutral and the Time Lord couldn’t tell if he was being serious or sarcastically angry.

“Tosh and Owen may be brilliant but really we’re just ordinary people working with fantastic things.  We’re not heroes,” Ianto added quietly.

The Doctor smiled.  He suddenly knew what it was that made Ianto special to Jack above all the others.  It wasn’t just that he was hansom, witty, organised or that incredible compassion that burned gently in him.

It was like the difference between the Doctor’s relationship with Martha and the day he’d spent with Donna.

Martha had that wonder and hero worship mixed a little with seeing him as a potential boyfriend.  A bit like how Owen described Gwen’s feelings for Jack, only Martha was a gentle and much more stable soul.

Donna on the other hand wouldn’t have any of that.  She’d seen the wonders, the horror and amazement as he disrupted her life, then wacked him on the arm and gave him a piece of her mind.

She’s seen him out of control, when he didn’t care and she had stopped him.  She hadn’t been struck by awe she had been horrified.

Ianto might be quieter, gentler like Martha but he could only see the man Jack was.  That meant that, like Donna, Ianto had the power to say no.

 _“I spent a long time thinking about by team, responsibility,”_ Jack’s words at their last parting echoed in his mind.

Jack had been telling the truth.  He hadn’t left the Time Lord for Ianto because he couldn’t.  He had left for the team because he had to be true.

Ianto Jones may not ask for anything but he wanted his planet and its people safe, his quiet devotion spoke volumes about that.  The Doctor knew about being a lone survivor, he protected this planet fiercely because it was his second home and he wanted it safe.

Jack knew that his leaving would have been painful to Ianto.  The Time Lord knew there had been a message of love to the immortal in the Welshman’s final moments at the hands of the Master, but in his end Ianto had an air of peace.

That might make Jack hesitate, Captain Gung-ho Harkness afraid of rejection from a quiet, gentle archivist.  The Doctor knew now that Ianto Jones was worth the attempt.

The Captain would not just accept no, not unless he was absolutely sure there was no chance of gaining Ianto heart again.  That meant he had to stay in Torchwood.

The team and the mission had to become what he wanted.  Not just because it was a way of proving himself to Ianto but because if the Welshman suspected Jack was unhappy in Torchwood because of him, he would take measures, what the Doctor didn’t know, he just knew that Ianto would.

That meant being with Torchwood had to be something Jack wanted for himself.  Twenty-first century Cardiff and its rift had to be the life he choose.

Further contemplations were interrupted by Tosh arriving in her car.

Going around the ancient castle was a bizarrely enjoyable experience.  It was much more relaxing than being surrounded by armies wanting to lock him up for one reason or another and not listening to him.

Although there had been a hairy moment when they ran into a party of school children.  The Doctor thought maybe they had stepped though the rift into the past when the castle was under siege but fortunately he didn’t mention it to either of the others before he realised the truth.

The tour was a mixture of facts, supposition and inaccuracy but it was interesting.  He rarely stayed out of trouble to find out what the various rooms of a place were used for.

It was also fascinating to look at the preservation and the changes made throughout history.  How some elements were preserved, some reconstructed and others overruled by later tastes.

Ianto and Toshiko were fascinating to be around too.  Historical places of interest were obviously more to the Welshman’s taste than the technical genius’, but she tried her best to be enthusiastic.

The young man obviously appreciated it and the Time Lord could tell this trip had a meaning to the pair of them he wasn’t privy to.  So Ianto began a little game to make things more fun for his friend.

With each of the rooms they began to make up scenarios for the people who once used them.  They started of with historical stories about the people and events the guide mentioned then they eventually became quite fantastical involving aliens and time shifts.

The Time Lord enjoyed himself just being with them, listening to their imaginations running riot.  It seemed a strangely appropriate setting for a reminder of the things he loved most about human beings.

They ate their sandwiches in the castle grounds and rested before continuing their explorations.  Dinner that evening was fish and chips eaten on the pier, despite it being closed.

It was a good day and the Doctor had the impression that Tosh had never seen Ianto being so young.  After everything that happened to him recently, after his near miss yesterday, today had been exactly what the Welshman needed.

It was a pity that when they returned to his house, Gwen Cooper was waiting for them.

 


	27. Chapter Twenty-seven

They had time to get in, remove their coats, shoes and socks before Gwen rang the bell.  A look sent the Time Lord into the kitchen before the young man opened the door.

“May I come in?” she asked politely.

“Of course,” Ianto opened the door wide for her and lead her into the lounge.

She hesitated when she saw the TARDIS parked in the middle of the room.  Through the partially open kitchen door the Doctor could see her confused look as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing.

“It’s a piece of modern art, I’m looking after for a friend.  I can’t tell what it is either,” Ianto said noticing her stare.

At once the TARDIS’s presence made sense to her and the Time Lord could see her dismissing it.  Gwen returned her attention to Ianto and sat where he indicated.

“Can I get you a coffee or tea?” the Welshman asked politely.

“No thank you I don’t intend to be here long,” she replied and waited for him to take the seat opposite.

“I just came around to apologise for last night.  It isn’t you I’m really angry with and I shouldn’t have lashed out at you, I’m sorry,” Gwen said looking him in the eye.

“Apology accepted,” Ianto said answered looking straight back at her.

“You really don’t…” she began.

“No I have no idea where Jack has gone.  I know that the box he was running after belongs to an alien known as the Doctor, Torchwood One considered him to be the enemy after he had a run in with Queen Victoria.

“He spent some time in the seventies and eighties working for UNIT and his status as an enemy of the empire was recanted then, only the head of the institute refused to acknowledge it, he is an alien after all.

“Jack and Archie in Glasgow both accepted his pardon when they took command so it’s only London and possibly four that wanted him.  The archiving and records department ensured that the spirit of her current Majesty’s wishes were maintained,” Ianto stated and the Doctor knew he was the one being spoken to not Gwen.  It made him smile, he was fond of Britain’s current Queen, even if he did try to avoid going to dinner with her.

“I have come to believe that Jack was one of the Doctor’s travelling companions, he had a fondness for humans which is well documented.  Whether or not that fact is on Jack’s personnel record I cannot tell you,” Ianto answered neutrally.

“I was expecting to come back with coffee, wait for the rest of you to go home, have a talk with Jack and then take him back here to either just sleep or have make up sex.  I don’t know why he left.”

“So you two have been…”

“In a sexual relationship, yes.  It started the Thursday before Suzie came back.  The film you saw last night was make during second/third week and it’s not the only one,” Ianto’s voice was blunt.  The look on Gwen’s face was one of upset horror.

The Doctor didn’t think Ianto was being cruel.  These were the answers the Welshwoman had been seeking and he was giving them at last to end it.

“So when Suzie was here, when you were throwing up and describing what you believed were the effects of that artefact on you.  The relationship you talked about, that was you and Jack,” she said slowly and though not believing.

“Yes.”

“He was right there, listening, he let you lie to me,” she said distraught.

“And every syllable turned him on,” Ianto replied anger now edging into his voice.

“But he…”

The Doctor didn’t know how that sentence would have ended but be knew how Ianto took it.  The young man’s whole body radiated an unnatural stillness.

“I see. I was obviously under a misapprehension that I was entitled to a personal life and personal privacy.  I’m sorry I was so naïve not to realise that I belong to Torchwood and everything I am is subject to the approval of the head of Torchwood.

“I will have a report ready for you when I return from my leave detailing all my activities with our boss.  I’ll leave it on your desk along with my two months notice.

“If you wouldn’t mind leaving I have a lot of preparations to make.  There is a lot of things my replacement will need to know before you retcon me,” the lack of emotion in the Welshman’s voice was frightening.

“Ianto I…”

“Get out of my house,” Ianto stated, his voice only slightly raised and completely commanding.

Gwen got up and Ianto escorted her to the door.  She tried several times to add something but he asked her to go every time, before she could speak.

As soon as she was gone the Doctor was at Ianto’s side.  He was terrified that there would be a repeat of last night.

Instead though Ianto pushed past him, grabbed his lap top and went into the dinning area to set it up.  He ignored the Time Lord completely and began to type.

The Doctor didn’t need to take a peek to know that Ianto was being true to his word.  It was four o’clock in the morning when the anger faded enough for exhaustion to claim him.

All the Time Lord could do was prevent him from collapsing onto the keyboard.  He saved the document and carried Ianto up to bed.

An hour later he didn’t know whether to be glad or frightened that Ianto’s reset button was no longer working.

 


	28. Chapter Twenty-eight

At seven o’clock the next morning Toshiko phoned Ianto’s mobile and the Doctor answered it.  He had been unable to think of anything to help so he told her everything that had happened when Gwen came around.

Normally he couldn’t tolerate the language she used but today he made an exception, mostly because only the habit of nine hundred years prevented him from saying such things himself.

He ended the call promising to look after Ianto today and with Toshiko promising to be around as soon as she had finished for the day.  He felt a little better but still had a sense of foreboding, Ianto was not supposed to leave Torchwood, not yet anyway.

At nine Ianto woke and pausing only to visit the bathroom and put on a dressing gown and slippers he returned to his lap top to work on his report.  He ignored the Time Lord and any food placed before him, he only drank because the Doctor provided that too.

The Time Lord was an expert in being an annoying distraction but Ianto had no reaction.  Checking Ianto’s pulse, he could feel a steady, low rhythm and realised that he was being ignored so well because the Welshman was in a trance.

That meant he ignored any calls he received that day and worse ignored Tosh’s ringing on the bell that evening.  In the end the Doctor let her in because he didn’t know what else to do.

Toshiko glimpsed at him through the hall door but didn’t enter.  Shear worry etched into her face.

“I know he hasn’t moved except when nature called,” she said pre-empting what he was going to say.

“How?”

“After the business with Lisa, Jack put him on suicide watch, his whole house is rigged with hidden surveillance.  Don’t worry whatever it is he gave you to keep you off the Hub’s systems keeps you off the cameras here too, I only had to edit you out of that first night.

“They have been passive for months but Owen reactivated them because he was worried.  I have a recording of last night’s incident and Ianto’s reaction.  I confronted Gwen,” Toshiko explained.

“What did she say?” the Time Lord asked darkly.

“Apart from the endless apologies, she cannot understand Ianto’s reaction.  She was genuinely baffled and to be honest I am a little too,” Tosh said quietly.

“Ianto is broken hearted he is trying to figure out what his relationship with Jack means, what he meant to Jack.  To use his puzzle analogy, the problem with Jack taking all his pieces is that a lot of Jack’s pieces are also Torchwood pieces.

“You all go home at the end of the day, Ianto stayed with Jack.  What Gwen said about him last night and the other night, what Owen called him, they are making him doubt what he meant to Jack and making him wonder if he is just one of the bosses’ perks,” the Time Lord explained.

“Jack isn’t like that,” Tosh hissed.

“We know that and in truth Ianto knows that, but it’s a fear that has been growing inside him and he is so hurt he cannot shake it.  His confidence has also taken a knock and he feels unimportant.

“Ianto cannot decide if his memories of his time with Jack are a good thing or a bad thing.  His private time with Jack feels like the only thing he had that was just his.

“I think Gwen only meant that she was supposed to be Jack’s friend that they shared everything.  She’s someone he talked to, but he told her nothing about something she felt was important, his feelings, Ianto, her place in his world, like Owen suggested.

“To Ianto she’s asking him to give her those memories like he doesn’t deserve them, like they and he belong to Torchwood, like everything he had already given, surrendered isn’t enough.  Does that make sense?” the Doctor asked, hoping that he had read the situation correctly so they could help.

“Yes, yes it does.  One of the reasons we go out for dinner is to feel more normal, less Torchwood.  We can pretend to be like those around us for a couple of hours, just for fun,” she told him with a smile of fond memory.

“He won’t stop until he has finished his report will he?” she asked worried.

“I’ve already tried he’s in some kind of trance,” he answered looking at her hopefully.

“Something he learnt in London I guess.  I don’t think he’s just writing down the facts I think he’s sorting out his feelings.  When he’s done that he will be ready to move on.

“We have a week and two months to convince him he’s wanted, that he is valued.  More difficult will be convincing him he isn’t a slave, that he is more than just Torchwood,” Tosh said quietly, her facing showing how much she felt the task impossible.

“The time off will probably help.  I’ll do what I can,” the Time Lord promised.

Toshiko took one last sad look at her friend.  It spoke of her fear, of how much Ianto meant to her, then with great reluctance she left.

Ianto Jones kept working until two in the morning.  Then he finished his report and saved copies onto two different USB flash drives.

The Welshman then got a pen and paper and began to write.  When he finished, he sealed the letter and the flash drive in an envelope.

“When you next see him, could you give this to Jack?” Ianto asked acknowledging the Time Lord for the first time since Gwen’s visit.

“I...”

“Please,” Ianto asked quietly.

“Of course,” the Doctor said slipping the letter into his pocket.

“Thank you,” Ianto said and walked away.

He only got as far as the sofa before exhaustion overwhelmed him.  For the second night in a row, the Time Lord found himself putting his host to bed and being concerned when he didn’t wake up at five.


	29. Chapter Twenty-nine

When Ianto Jones did wake up Toshiko was sitting on the bed beside him.  She greeted him with a smile that he couldn’t really return.

“You saw what happened,” Ianto said quietly.

“Yes.  You seemed busy last night so I left you to it,” she answered.

“How did you get in?”

“There’s no cell that can hold me and no house I cannot enter,” she answered with a knowing smile.  “I was worried.”

“I’m sorry but my decision stands.  Please don’t ask me to change my mind,” the plea had a desperation to it that made the technical genius’ smile fade.

“I won’t but I live in hope that you will change your mind,” she told him and he accepted her word.

“Why don’t you shower and dress.  I have some vegetable soup waiting for you downstairs,” she told him and he nodded.

Ianto did as he was bid and cleaned himself up.  He went down to the kitchen in a grey shirt and jeans.

Tosh served Ianto his unusual breakfast and began to talk.  She didn’t mention Torchwood, aliens or any of the team once.  Instead she discussed politics and entertainment news

The beep of her mobile phone interrupted.  She gave Ianto a look and he gave her an understanding smile in return.

As soon as Tosh left Ianto returned to the lap top.

“I thought you’d finished your report,” the Time Lord said worried.

“I have, now I’m flat hunting,” Ianto replied.

“What’s wrong with your house?” the Doctor said confused.  The Welshman hesitated, he looked down at the computer then up at the Time Lord and back again before answering.

“When my father knew he was dying he sold his business and bought this house for me.  I was still a child so it was left in trust through his solicitors and they arranged for the house to be rented.

“The payments covered the mortgage with a little left over for me.  My sister Rhiannon was so angry, even though she knew she was promised our family home when mum dies, I don’t blame her it isn’t the same.

“What made it worse was that after my father died I became lost.  I did nothing that he hoped I would do and eventually I ended up in London working for Torchwood.

“When I came back I was desperate.  The couple living here had just started a family of their own and were looking to move somewhere bigger, so I gave them time to find a place before I moved in.

“I didn’t change much.  Part of me was unsure if it would become a home for Lisa and me or if we would end up on the run.

“In the end it was neither.  This place has only ever felt like home for three days, three days when Jack was here.”

Ianto closed his eyes willing back his emotions and closed the laptop.  The Doctor moved closer wanting to offer some sort of comfort but not knowing what.

“Whatever my relationship with Jack was about, I was supposed to enjoy it.  It was about company and fun and feeling pleasure and feeling alive.

“My memories of him are supposed to be good ones.  They are supposed to be good aren’t they?” Ianto asked him.

“Yes, yes they’re supposed to be good.  I know that Jack would want you to be as happy as you want him to be.  He didn’t mean to leave you like this,” the Doctor answered with conviction.

“They are good,” Ianto sated with a smile but it was gone too quickly.  “but they’re all turning poisonous.  I don’t... I can’t...”

The Doctor wrapped his arms around Ianto as the young man cried.  He gave comforting, soothing words that made no demands.

After a few minutes the young man pulled back and composed himself.  His eyes looked everywhere except the Time Lord and then his expression changed.

“The house needs to be cleaned.”

The Doctor couldn’t help the excited smile and Ianto gave an indulgent smile in return.

“Will you at least keep you suit on?” Ianto asked.  The Time Lord frowned and then he realised.

“Jack did your housework in his birthday suit?”

“Yeah,” Ianto said with a sad smile.

“I can promise you unequivocally that taking off my jacket is as far as I go,” the Time Lord stated and the young man’s smile brightened for a moment.

So the two of them worked on cleaning the house, washing, dusting and hovering.  Ianto had very precise standards but he was a patient teacher and was amused by the Time Lord’s fascination with his house hold gadgets.

By the time the Doctor moved to the upstairs bedrooms, he could feel jealousy radiating in waves from the TARDIS.  He kept telling her that he was just helping out but he knew there was no fooling her.

Then suddenly the jealousy stopped.  What worried him more was the contented purring sensation she suddenly produced.

He slipped quietly down the stairs and was astounded to find Ianto washing and polishing the side of his TARDIS.  The old girl didn’t need it but she was certainly enjoying it.

It occurred to the Time Lord that the Welshman might have felt her unhappiness.  The Doctor was giving attention to Ianto’s home, so now the young man was returning the favour.

The Doctor sensed trouble as soon as Ianto finished with the side and back panels and began to work on the front.  His rhythm slowed as though he was suddenly tired.

The Time Lord was beside him before he heard the click of the door lock.  He pulled Ianto back from the threshold and carried him to the sofa, ignoring his ship’s disappointment.

“Now now,” he scolded, closing the door.

A wave of loss shot through him.  It was like seeing Rose fall towards the void, seeing Astrid fall into the storm drive.  For a moment it overwhelmed him.

Then he felt warm comfort, like he was being wrapped up in a blanket and held tight.  He allowed the sensation to slow his heart beats, before communicating that the message was understood.

“I know old girl.  I want to take him away too.  I want him to see wonderful, beautiful things but we can’t.  We would change him, change history.  I don’t think he would thank us for saving him at the cost of his world, for creating a paradox with a timeline we have already stopped.

“And we cannot do it to Jack.  He’s already suffered enough because of us.  We cannot take this chance of love and happiness.  We only have the power right now to care and protect.  To try and make a medicine of the poison,” he said resting his head against his home.

She was not happy but she understood.

 


	30. Chapter Thirty

Toshiko woke Ianto when dinner was ready.  The Welshman was a little surprised but the house was completely spotless.

Afterwards they watched another Friends DVD until they were both tired.  The technical genius had brought some overnight things and they went to sleep sharing Ianto’s bed.

Ianto woke at five o’clock in the morning.  However seeing Tosh beside him he closed his eyes and relaxed back into sleep.

They both woke up a couple of hours later.  Ianto made Toshiko breakfast while she got ready for work.

The Time Lord was becoming increasingly fond to her.  She was normally very reserved, the same as Ianto was, but when together they relaxed at ease as they deliberately talked nonsense.

As soon as his friend left, the Welshman returned to the laptop to begin his search again for a new flat.  Ianto had a determined look and also that air of peace making a decision gives a person, so the Doctor sat beside him and helped.

At ten o’clock though, Ianto and the Doctor wrapped up warm and left the House.  They had brought some books with them but the Time Lord could tell the young man was not really in the mood for reading.

Ianto lead them to the park.  They found a bench to sit on and just watched the world moving around them.

“I used to do this after Lisa died, visit the park, watch real people,” Ianto said quietly.

“You didn’t feel real?” the Doctor asked picking up in the Welshman’s tone that he didn’t mean live action as opposed to TV.

Ianto shrugged.  He looked thoughtful and he was obviously trying to think of a way to explain his thoughts.

“When you regenerate your personality changes, it’s well documented.  It as though your soul and memories remain the same but because they are in a new body, with a new neuro-chemical makeup, it alters the way you think, the way you feel, changing your personality as much as the trauma of death and rebirth does,” the young man theorised.

“To be honest I’ve never really thought about it.  I’m more interested in what my new face looks like, will my companion like it, how my teeth feel and whether or not I will be ginger this time,” the Time Lord said apologetically but he received a small smile.

“I died at Canary Wharf, not physically but who I was before.  The person Jack met, gave a job to was a different me.

“He was a deceiver willing to get Jack’s attention and then slip into the shadows.  His purpose was to cure Lisa and, though he indulged himself with feeling like part of the team, he wasn’t.

“I told Jack that when the Cyberwoman died that Ianto died to, and I stayed dead for a long time waiting for rebirth.  When I was reborn I wanted company,” he said quietly.

“You choose Jack,” the Doctor said understanding.

“I didn’t want a stranger.  I wanted somebody who needed me just as much,” Ianto replied.

“What do you mean?” the Time Lord asked curiously.

“The archives are full of your deeds.  You have been dealt the hero card often enough.  You’ve seen the awe and wonder, felt the worship as though you were a god.

“Inside though you fear that you are a monster because there are hard choices.  Which life do you save, which planet do you save.  Can you save these twenty people knowing that the destruction of a species may be the result?” Ianto said looking at him with that deep penetrating stare.

“You, like Jack, are neither a god nor a monster.  Jack is just a human.  I’ve seen him play god and I’ve seen him be a monster.  He is neither and both and while naked in the dark he knew I could see him, just him.

“You don’t have that do you?  Your companions have mostly been human.  You’re an alien, they can only see the gods and monsters, they get close but they cannot see the real you.  There is no Time Lord to understand you as a Time Lord can understand, no one to see you naked in the dark.”

“You know for someone so young, you are frighteningly perceptive,” the Doctor stated.

“That’s because I’m dead again.  My heart stopped when Owen shot Jack, then started and stopped, started and stopped.  I’m in limbo waiting to be reborn but this time I have to do it alone,” Ianto replied.

“You have me and Toshiko,” the Doctor said hastily.  Ianto shook his head.

“Like you, no one is ever going to see me naked in the dark again.  Ever know me to the depths of my soul without words.

“You and Tosh, you’re helping my rebirth, helping me become a new me, but you will never see that.  I wonder if I will be reborn before I stop being me at all,” Ianto wondered and the Time Lord was reminded of Ianto’s two month deadline with Torchwood.

The Doctor hadn’t been aware that he was leaning against Ianto until the Welshman put his head on the Time Lord’s shoulder.  He was surprised that he could feel the young man take a mental deep breath.

Ianto ordered this thoughts and feelings.  A calm spread through him into the Time Lord, like the presence of the TARDIS had yesterday.  The Doctor felt a sense of tranquillity sweep over him, _almost like being in a zero room._

The Doctor got up suddenly, surprising the Welshman.

“Ducks,” the Time Lord said and Ianto blinked.

“Is there a duck pond?  I have this urge to watch ducks frolicking that will cheer us up,” the Doctor said with a huge manic grin.

With a bemused look Ianto stood and lead the way.  The Time Lord shoved his hands in his pockets to stop them reaching out to take the young man’s hand.

He had to remind himself of the speech he gave the TARDIS last night.  He needed to supress Ianto’s theory of gods and monsters within heroes, because all he wanted to do right then was take this hurt, innocent child away, not just away from the future that would cease to exist but from the here and now and all the pain he was enduring.

For in that moment of tranquillity the Doctor had understood.  Going over it in his mind, explaining things to Toshiko, he hadn’t truly understood until that moment and it terrified him.

 

 

 

 


	31. Chapter Thirty-one

They were just finishing a rather good pub lunch when Ianto’s PDA beeped.  The Welshman looked at it and all the animation that had built up since they visited the duck pond drained away.

“I have to go and do something,” Ianto said apologetically and headed for the door.

“What?” the Doctor demanded.

“Stay here,” Ianto ordered as he slipped out the door.

Never one to take orders blindly the Time Lord followed.  As he left the pub he heard Ianto hail a Taxi with a surprisingly loud voice.

As Ianto got in the Doctor stopped a passing cyclist.

“Sorry could you get off the bike please.  Her Majesties Inspectorate we’ve had word that there is a flaw in this model that develops after three months.  Random spot check road test,” the Doctor said with a flash of the psychic paper and he leapt on.

“But it’s only been on the market two weeks,” the man called after him as he pedalled after Ianto’s cab.

It was tiring work peddling.  He much preferred to run but he had more chance of keeping up this way.

Through the glass he could make out Ianto giving the driver directions.  It made it easier for the Time Lord to follow.

They pulled up in an ordinary looking street.  Ianto paid the driver and looked between the houses and his PDA.

A scream alerted both the Welshman and his follower.  Ianto ran to a house and began to bang on the door demanding admission.

A young boy opened the door and Ianto slipped inside.  As the Doctor reached the house a woman who was obviously the boy’s mother came out and began to check her child was okay before her knees gave way and she collapsed with him on the grass.

The Time Lord ignored them both as he entered the house himself.  The sound of banging and the shrieks told him which room he wanted.

Ianto and a young woman were circling each other.  She was raggedly dressed and her eyes were wild with madness.  The Welshman in contrast barely looked ruffled and was trying to exude and air of calm.

Suddenly she snarled and rushed towards Ianto.  The Doctor crossed the distance between them and held her back from the young man.

The three struggled together.  The woman was incredibly strong for someone so petite.  It was obvious that Ianto didn’t want to hurt her but could find no words to stop her.

The Doctor made eye contact with Ianto to let him know what he was about to do.  As he let go of the woman with one hand Ianto’s own intercepted before her nails could rake his flesh.

The Time Lord felt along the woman’s shoulder until he found the pressure point he was looking for.  He pressed it in and she instantly collapsed.

“Thank you,” Ianto said breathlessly, “when will she wake up?”

“Not for a couple of hours,” the Doctor replied.

Ianto nodded then turned the woman over to inspect her.  He was checking for injuries and marks as well as potential weapons.

The Doctor got out his sonic screwdriver and began to scan her.  Ianto looked at him with worried frightened eyes until he put it down.

“See these triangular marks down her spine.  There are implants of some kind.  I’ve deactivated them they won’t harm anyone but I’m afraid the damage to her mind has already been done,” the Time Lord said gravely.

“Nothing to do except take care of her,” Ianto said softly.

“I notice none of the others are rushing through the door.  What’s all this about?” the Time Lord asked but Ianto shook his head.

“If you’re keeping secrets from Jack... No this is Jack’s secret you’re keeping from the others,” the Doctor said as Ianto blanched.

“Please stop asking.  This will only cause you pain.  Let me take care of her and leave it at that,” Ianto begged.

The Time Lord’s reply was interrupted by the house owner appearing in the doorway.  Ianto straightened to meet her.

“I’ve identified her, she escaped from an asylum a few weeks ago.  May I borrow your car to take her back, there will be no need for you to give a statement,” the Welshman said to the stunned mother.

She nodded and accepted the receipt he gave her for her vehicle.  Ianto carried the unconscious woman out to the car.

The Doctor got in while Ianto secured her in the back.  The Welshman did not look happy but didn’t seem to have the energy to protest anymore.

Neither of them spoke as they headed towards the marina.

 

 


	32. Chapter Thirty-two

There was a break in their journey when Ianto got out to get some cash and to make a phone call.  Otherwise there was silence between the two men.

The Doctor wanted to press, demand answers but he knew Ianto had already clammed up.  The Welshman’s loyalty to Jack quite amazed him.  Not that he didn’t think Jack deserved loyalty, but Ianto was heartbroken and that usually meant cursing and vengeance.

Ianto stopped the borrowed car at the marina and got the unconscious woman out by himself.  The Time Lord would have helped but he got the impression that the Welshman felt that if he allowed himself to be helped, he was being complicit in betraying the secret the Doctor was forcing him to betray.

The exchange of money with the captain of a boat was the only conversation Ianto had.  The Doctor got on the boat with the two of them and remained silent as they were taken out into the Bristol Channel.

They docked on an island and Ianto carried the woman off the boat and up a hill.  The Doctor recognised the construction they were approaching as dating from the Second World War.

He was rather startled when the bunker door opened and a black woman emerged.

“I have told you Mr. Jones that you are not allowed to come here,” she said crossly.

“I’m sorry Helen but Captain Harkness has gone away and I have another one,” Ianto said indicating the woman slung over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

The Time Lord looked at Ianto in concern, his accent had thickened but there was no sigh of distress on his face.  Further speculation was interrupted by Helen calling inside for some help.

Two more people emerged carrying a gurney for the unconscious woman.  They blocked the entrance to the bunker so he got out his sonic screwdriver to do some distance scans.

As they passed, taking the woman with them, the Time Lord wanted to get inside.  He wanted to know what this mysterious secret was that Ianto refused to tell him.

“No not again.  This is why you’re supposed to stay away.  You’re not even inside,” Helen’s voice interrupted him.

The Doctor turned to see that she had grabbed Ianto by the Hand and was marching him back to the boat.  The Welshman was letting himself be dragged without resistance.

The door behind him closed but the Doctor was already chasing after the other two.  When he caught up and saw Ianto’s face it was the same blank look that he wore when he was hiding in himself.

Instinctively the Doctor grabbed Ianto’s free hand.  He hoped the contact would help but there was no response.

Helen ordered the crew of the boat to get Ianto back aboard saying that he tripped and was a little dazed.  It was an obvious lie but no one wanted to ask what really happened, especially with the fierce, protective look in her eye.

Ianto was sat in the prow of the boat and the Doctor sat beside him.  The Welshman sagged into him and was asleep as soon as his head rested on the Time Lord’s shoulder.

This wasn’t like the times Ianto had fallen asleep before.  There was something more than exhaustion about this, almost as though he had been drained of energy.

He wondered what was behind that metal door, what secret of Jack’s had taken energy from Ianto that he did not have to spare.  _Or had it been given?_

He checked the readings he had gotten from the sonic screwdriver.  The occupants of the bunker had been mostly human.  There was also a variety of alien matter in small amounts and some alien substances.

 _“Nothing to do except take care of her,”_ Ianto’s words echoed in his mind.

Helen and the others did have the appearance of nurses.  They were there to look after that unfortunate soul, there was nothing wrong with that, so why the secrecy?

 _It’s where they came from._   _Are they victims of some Torchwood experiment?_   The Doctor thought back to his encounter with Torchwood One and Yvonne Hartman.

No it didn’t fit.  Even if he could equate Hartman’s people person persona with a ruthless experimenter on human beings, that wasn’t a secret that Jack would keep from his team.  That wasn’t a person he could see Ianto working for either.

_So if it’s not Torchwood then it is to do with the Rift.  The Rift changes people?_

Again that didn’t fit and he had the proof leaning against him.  Ianto’s psychic abilities stemmed from the effects of the Rift’s presence on the population of Cardiff.

It was an evolutionary response to the energies.  With Gwyneth, back in the nineteenth century, he had found a more extreme example but the Rift had been more focused then, before he allowed it to be opened.

The air of calm that Ianto projected sometimes, the one that was a stillness greater than just in the mind was almost an immune response, a resistance to certain Rift Energies.

So it wasn’t the rift, not directly.  And it wasn’t something coming through the rift.  If it had been then the others would have been there, of that the Time Lord was certain.

Ianto’s PDA though had registered some activity.  What if it was attuned to a specific rift frequency that did not show up on the Rift detector because Jack programmed it that way?

The Doctor slipped his hand into Ianto’s jacket pocket to retrieve the PDA.  Ianto didn’t stir and the Time Lord felt both worried and guilty for it.

The PDA was heavily encrypted but that was no problem when you have a sonic screwdriver.  He found the alert but it told him nothing.  The Rift detector obviously picked up this particular energy reading along with all the others.  It was just programmed to send that information to this PDA and probably Jack’s Vortex Manipulator alone.

However the clue he was looking for was still there.  It was in the name of the alert; it was called “Found”.  There was also an alert called “Lost”.

_That woman, she was taken by the Rift.  She got those implants, was driven mad on another planet.  Now she has been returned but the damage was done.  All that could be done was take care of her._

The Doctor knew Jack.  If there had been a way of preventing that woman from being taken he would have done it.

Ianto’s immune response, it made him less likely to be taken.  He was giving that peace to the victims of the Rift and it drained him.  _That’s why Helen knew he was there; she’d observed the reaction of those in her care before._

The Doctor didn’t know how many there were.  Not enough to cause city wide panic but enough to warrant a hidden facility.

All those people had families.  They didn’t know why their loved ones were lost.  If they were all as insane as that woman, they were too dangerous to be returned to those loved ones.

“I’m sorry, so sorry,” he whispered into the Welshman’s ear.

The only way to stop it was to close the rift completely and he didn’t have the power to do that, no one did, not anymore, not since his people died.

He slipped the PDA back in Ianto’s pocket as tears ran down his face.  He was barely aware of the comforting presence, similar to the TARDIS, reassuring his mind that everything would be alright.

 


	33. Chapter Thirty-three

The Doctor got Ianto off the boat and into the borrowed car.  He used the Welshman’s phone to call for a cab while refuelling the vehicle.

The cab was waiting when they got back to the car owners house.  He got the Welshman inside the cab then he locked the car and shoved the keys through the letterbox.

Only when he was back at Ianto’s house, with the reassuring presence of the TARDIS did he relax.  He didn’t notice the presence that had been comforting him slip away.

Ianto had still not revived from his unnatural unconsciousness into natural sleep, he still felt drained.  The feel of the TARDIS in his mind gave the Doctor an idea.

He propped Ianto against the side of his ship and started looking for his key.  He stopped as he realised that it was unnecessary.  He could feel his ship extend her presence around the Welshman, feel her bleeding comfort and energy into him.  After a few minutes Ianto was properly asleep and she withdrew.

“Thank you,” the Time Lord said stroking his ship.

The Doctor sat down next to the Welshman.  He felt drained, not just because of the physical excursion, but because today had been another reminder of how much the loss of his people meant to him, to the universe.

The TARDIS expanded her gentle presence towards him giving him the comfort and reassurance he needed.  It wasn’t long before he too was asleep.

The Doctor was awakened by the smell of baking cakes.  Ianto was no longer beside him so he went off to have a look in the kitchen.

The Welshman brought little cakes from out of the oven and put them on a cooling rack.  He looked up at the Time Lord   He looked well though a little flushed but that might have been the heat.

“Batter or icing?” Ianto asked.

“What?”

“Would you like to help me make the next lot of cakes or ice the ones cooling over there?” he clarified.

“Oh, make the cakes,” the Doctor said heading to here the mixing bowl and ingredients were.

“Okay then take eight ounces of butter and eight of sugar and beat them together until smooth,” Ianto instructed as he measured out icing sugar into another bowl.

“Special occasion?” the Time Lord asked as none of their recent activities indicated that there would be baking in his future.

“I’m going to see a friend tomorrow.  I don’t have time or the money to do a proper shop so I’m making cakes,” Ianto replied.

“Big are they?” the Doctor asked cautiously, though obviously not tactfully as Ianto raised an amused eyebrow.

“She runs a children’s home.  I help out when I can.  I don’t get much chance really working for Torchwood but I like to do what I can.  She’s one of my oldest friends,” Ianto replied looking over to the Time Lord.

“You’re ready for the next bit.  Beat up a couple of eggs and add them to your mix a little at a time.  You need to stir the eggs in and you want to make sure it doesn’t curdle,” Ianto added looking at the Time Lord’s efforts.

The Doctor did as he was instructed while watching the young man iced some of the cakes.  He received a stern look at the delighted noise he made as Ianto sprinkled some with silver ball bearings.

 “You know you’ve never mentioned any of your other friends before, you know non Torchwood ones,” the Doctor said curiously.

“Most don’t live in Cardiff anymore, some I’ve just drifted away from. Chocolate or plain?” he asked, it took the Doctor a moment to realise he was talking about the cakes.

“Chocolate,” he replied with a mischievous grin.

“When you’ve finished adding the egg sieve on seven ounces of self-raising flour, one ounce of cocoa and two teaspoons of baking powder, then fold them in,” the Doctor nodded still carefully adding the eggs.

“I lost touch with most of them while I worked for Torchwood in London.  It wasn’t so much the whole secrecy thing but you make new friends with every job and I had a lot of friends in Torchwood London.

“I cut myself off from the few that survived because I had to save Lisa.  I knew they wouldn’t approve, but she meant so much to me.

“Returning to Cardiff I couldn’t see any of my old friends.  At first because all my time was taken up looking after Lisa.  Afterwards I wanted to keep them safe from me, from my dangerous life,” Ianto answered sprinkling a new set of cakes with hundreds and thousands.

“But you kept this one,” the Doctor asked.

“Yes,” Ianto said with a finality that suggested no further explanation was forth coming.

“Then I cannot wait to meet her,” the Doctor said with a smile and he used a metal tablespoon to fold the flour and cocoa into the batter.

Ianto froze what he was doing.

“You don’t want me to meet her?” the Time Lord asked disappointed.

“I took Jack to meet her, after his last trip to the island we visited today.  The support would be nice but I’m not sure that you are the best person to bring and there are things I cannot tell you anymore than I could today,” Ianto said in a rush.

“She’s a victim of the Rift too isn’t she?” the Doctor asked his hand’s stilling.

“Not exactly.  That Island is Jack’s secret to protect, this is mine,” Ianto replied.

“You don’t trust me,” the Doctor stated.

“You think you know who is on the island.  AM and the others have just as painful a history for you but they are coping in their way,” Ianto said softly.  “That batter is ready to be put into cake cases.”

The Doctor silently began to put cake cases in the baking trays and filled them up with mixture.  He could see Ianto thinking over whether or not to say anything more.

“They are all orphans, all survivors of alien attacks, not just the children but the staff too.  Either their parents died or they were given up when they couldn’t cope with their child’s nightmares.  Some were orphaned after Canary Wharf, the children of Torchwood staff.

“The Rift has been here a long time.  Children grow up and they help those that come after.  Not just carers like AM, but doctors & psychologists, plumbers & electricians.

“They are one of Torchwood’s forgotten secrets, forgotten because they look after themselves.  Only the Archivists ever knew and they protected the secret.  I knew because I went to school with AM.”

“You showed Jack to give him hope back,” the Doctor said quietly.

“Yes.  Pop those in the oven they will be ready in fifteen minutes.

“You can come with me tomorrow, though as you can probably guess, I don’t know how alien friendly they will be,” Ianto told him.

After putting the cakes in the oven the Time Lord watched him melt a large bar of Dairy Milk and pour it over some of the cakes.

Tomorrow he was going to face those he always tried to disappear from.  Those he saved but could not give a happy ending to.

Ianto saw them as a reason to hope.  It was a thought to cling to after the helplessness he felt coming back from that island.

Without instruction, the Doctor started making another lot of cakes.


	34. Chapter Thirty-four

“Powell House,” the Doctor said reading out the discrete sign and they went up the driveway.

“Queen Victoria named it,” Ianto said with a momentary glance.

“When I met Queen Victoria I was with Rose.  We dealt with a werewolf for her.  I think we were a bit twenty-first century for her.

“She knighted me Sir Doctor of TARDIS, and Rose became a Dame of the Powell Estate, that’s where Rose lived.  Then she banished us from the empire.”

Ianto reached down and laid his hand on the Doctor’s.  He gave the hand a gentle squeeze then returned it to the steering wheel.

A woman with short dark hair came out to the house as they left the car.  Ianto crossed to her and the Doctor followed cautiously.

“Hi...” her hand halted Ianto from saying any more.

“He’s left you hasn’t he,” she stated and the Doctor raised a surprised eyebrow.

“We weren’t exactly together,” Ianto said looking away.

“I can see that as you seemed to have moved on quickly,” she said indicating the Doctor.

“Oh no we’re not together, oh,” the Doctor said as he realised she had addressed him directly.  Ianto looked at him amused.  “Oops.”  The woman though was not amused.

“AM this is the Doctor, Doctor this is Anne Marie Taylor,” Ianto said formally.

“The Doctor,” Anne Marie said in quiet recognition.

“Yes.  Apparently he shouldn’t be here because he could cause a potential paradox but cannot leave.  That’s why he’s pretending not to be here,” Ianto said.

“You brought the Doctor here?” she asked.

“He really is quite charming when he’s not eating marmalade out of the jar with his fingers,” Ianto told her and the Time Lord flashed what he hoped was a winning smile.

“Then for once he can make himself useful,” she stated.

“I brought some cakes,” Ianto said.

“Then you can start by bringing them along to the kitchen,” she said heading for the boot of the car.

“She doesn’t think I’m useful,” the Doctor said sounding very hurt.

“AM’s just using that as an excuse to observe you to make sure you are safe.  Then she will separate us and give us both a grilling,” Ianto told him as got to the boot and he began to load all three of them with cake tins.

“How did she see me?” the Doctor asked as they followed her to the kitchens.

“She saw you getting out of the passenger side.  My understanding is that your perception filter works by you not drawing attention to yourself.  Her seeing you get out the car was enough for her to fight it.  She’s very protective of the children in her charge, she notices things out of the ordinary to keep them safe,” Ianto explained patiently.

“I want them to be safe too,” the Doctor said quietly and Ianto smiled.

Anne Marie did exactly as Ianto predicted.  The Time Lord felt her watchful eye as they did odd jobs around the Victorian mansion house.

Then she sent him away and told him which rooms needed vacuum cleaning.  He was half way through repelling the invading forces of the Lounge Dust Fleet when he heard her laugh.

The Doctor turned dropping the vacuum cleaner hose in embarrassment.  She calmly crossed the distance between them and turned the machine off.

“So why are you following Ianto around?” she asked.

“I’m a friend of Jack’s.”

“You know that doesn’t exactly endear you to me?” she interrupted.

“Yes,” he replied with a sad sigh.  “Look my ship is parked in Ianto’s lounge and I’m not supposed to be in this time zone but she won’t move.  Ianto kindly offered his hospitality for a while.”

“You like him?”

“He’s very likeable.”

“Are you going to take him with you?” she asked looking at him with a gaze as frightening as one of Ianto’s knowing stares.

“I want to but it would create a paradox as much as if certain people found out I was here,” the Doctor replied honestly but nervously.

“Your secret’s safe with us.  After all who will believe us, we all believe in aliens,” she said making her eyes stare wildly for a moment before returning to normal with a cheeky smile.

“You know who I am,” the Doctor stated remembering her reaction earlier.

“Powell House has existed for nearly as long as Torchwood.  You are in the stories and legends of the House,” Anne Marie replied.

“Really,” he said sounding pleased.  “Anything good,” he added with an air of too eager indifference.

“Well the portrait of your ego is quite accurate,” she stated neutrally.

“Oh,” the Doctor looked away crestfallen.  “Hey,” he then protested when he saw the teasing smile on her face.

The smile didn’t stay there for long.

“Ianto said that he was going to hand in his notice,” she said quietly.

“That’s what he intends,” the Time Lord replied cautiously.

“Why?  I’ve known Ianto to hide.  To go deep inside himself when it gets too much but he doesn’t walk away.  Not when it’s something so important, to him, to the world,” she demanded in passionate confusion.

“He doesn’t feel wanted, needed or valued.  You said Ianto hides, well he hid from his colleagues, Jack was the only one he let in and now he’s gone.

“Ianto does have friends at Torchwood but the problem is that the woman in charge has also been hurt by Jack’s dissapearance.  She thought she was the one he trusted and confided in above all the others.

“She didn’t know about Jack’s relationship with Ianto.  She’s passionate, lets her heart rule.  It made her say something which she probably didn’t mean in the way Ianto took it and it was just too much,” the Doctor said at a rush.

“Bitch,” she said simply.  “So what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m not sure.  I’m a potential paradox so I’m limiting the number of people who know about me.  Really it’s the Torchwood team who need to sort this out.

“Just a second, what do you mean what will I do to sort this out?  That’s being a bit presumptuous isn’t it?  You’re his oldest friend what about you?” the Doctor protested.

“I can’t.  He’s so unhappy right now if I push he’ll feel unwelcome here,” Anne Marie said sadly.

“How can you tell he’s unhappy?” the Doctor asked knowing Ianto was wearing one of his ‘I’m fine’ masks when he got here.

“Because it’s a school day not the weekend.”

“Maybe he urgently wanted to see you all,” the Doctor said knowing what had precipitated this visit.

“Then why is he thinking of leaving before the children get back?  He isn’t sure he is up to being the happy person he thinks they need him to be.  He’s only staying to say goodbye,” AM told him then added to his confused look.

“When an employee leaves Torchwood they are made to forget everything about their time with them.  It’s a kindness in a way, after all the things he must see, how could he go back to being normal knowing that?

“Ianto will forget the last three years not just the bad stuff but Lisa and Jack.  He wasn’t a bad person or anything before he joined Torchwood but he was a drifter and they became his purpose.  The last time he was here, with Jack, I had never seen him so serene in himself before.

“They are going to take that, stop him being who he is meant to be,” the Welshwoman looked very worried.

“I’m not sure how much I will be able to help but I promise to do what I can,” the Doctor promised, knowing that the fate of the future lay in Ianto remaining in Torchwood.

“Thank you.  Now I think we have done enough against the dust hordes.  Let’s go and find Ianto,” she announced and turned away.  The Doctor gathered up the vacuum cleaner to put it away and followed.

Despite the new concerns Anne Marie had raised, he felt a strange sense of relief.  Anne Marie had decided to let him get off lightly because he was going to save Ianto.

 


	35. Chapter Thirty-five

The Doctor leant up against a wall of the lounge he had vacuumed earlier listening to the noise of children.  Dinner and cake had done nothing to dampen their exuberance.

The children were of all ages from toddler to young adult.  They were all personalities too from quiet geeks to loud extraverts.

In normal circumstances the Doctor didn’t suppose they would have mixed but here they shared a bond.  It wasn’t just living in the same house it was sharing the same secret, they knew about aliens.

Ianto was the centre of attention and he managed to give it to all of them.  Pushy or shy, he paid attention to whoever wanted it without favouring any over another.

The Doctor thought it looked quite exhausting but if anything they seemed to give the young man more energy.  His usual mask was also gone.  Ianto felt as young as he looked, having no burdens to weigh him down, just being himself.

He laughed freely and smiled freely causing more than one teenager to blush.  The Time Lord realise that this was just an aspect of himself that Ianto put away to deal with the adult world.

It was, he felt, to the adult world’s loss as much as ‘professional Ianto’ was to the world’s gain.  He had shown Jack both sides of himself, just as he was showing the Doctor, and the Time Lord felt honoured.

Unnoticed by either man a six year old girl picked up a box that was a little too heavy for her.  One of the teenage lads brushed past her and accidently knocked it out of her hands.

It fell with a loud crash and Lego bricks scattered across the floor.  The Doctor saw anger on the youth’s face for a moment but it was gone as soon as he saw how upset the girl was.

First the lad, then others, flocked to help pick up the bricks and calm the girl down.  They were being just as reassuring to the teenager and each other.

The Doctor turned to Ianto to smile, this had been what he meant when he said he would see hope, cooperation.  He witnessed the Welshman take a relaxing breath, his mask of calm in place before making unheard excuses and slipping from the room.

_He was on instant alert, ready to protect these children, to protect anyone.  He’s an archivist; he isn’t supposed to be that jumpy._

The Time Lord wove through the room and went to find Ianto.  The young man was sitting on a bench in the garden without a jacket.

“Sorry it was a little bit noisy in there, I don’t know now AM copes,” Ianto said as the Doctor sat down.

“I think some of that boisterousness was for you,” the Time Lord said gently.

“Maybe but she and the others have what twenty/ thirty kids to look after.  I only have four and they are more than enough for me,” Ianto said with a sigh.

“You have four kids?” the Doctor asked confused.

“You’ve met them they’re called Jack, Toshiko, Owen and Gwen,” Ianto replied with a slight smile.

“I’m not sure your Toshiko would appreciate being called a child,” the Time Lord said defensively.  Ianto smiled as his fondness for the technical genius showed.

“She’s the one that came up with the analogy.  Jack, Tosh and I spent the day together after the cannibal incident.

“I fell asleep in the park and they were talking about me when I woke.  I think Jack thought that, after Lisa, almost being eaten might be a bit much for me.”  The unsaid ‘It was Jack’s leaving that is too much for me’ hung in the Welshman’s pause.

“Tosh compared me to a Victorian governess looking after the others as though they were children.  She compared Jack to a hormonal teenager with a crush on me,” Ianto said with a slight smile.

“Is that how you see yourself?”

“I’d prefer to be thought of as the butler-cum-housekeeper who serviced his master in every way.  But that would make Gwen my mistress and I was never a servant when I was with Jack,” Ianto said closing his eyes, “Quite the opposite sometimes.”

A smile crossed Ianto’s face that had a wicked touch.  The fingers of his right hand went to his neck and for a moment the Doctor could see it adorned by a black dog collar studded with diamonds.

The Time Lord bit his lip.  He didn’t want to interrupt that rare smile even though he felt a little uncomfortable.  He wanted Jack to be remembered fondly.

Loud laughter came from inside the house and the smile and hand fell.

“I’ll find someone to look after them,” Ianto promised in a whisper.

“There’s no need to think of that yet.  You have another few days before you have to go back,” the Doctor said wanting to change the subject.

“Remind me when I do that I need to bring my pick and shovel,” Ianto said deadpan.

“Oh they’re not that bad,” the Time Lord said then with a quirk of the Welshman’s eyebrow amended it to, “they’re probably not that bad.” 

Ianto smiled then sighed.  “Time to be AM’s knight in shining armour.”  Then he rose and headed back into the house.

“I think that went well,” the Doctor said to himself but he wasn’t believed.

He followed Ianto back into the house, and while the Welshman was carefree and relaxed again, it was now a bitter sight.  It was a pause for breath before he dived back into deep, dark waters of working for Torchwood.


	36. Chapter Thirty-six

Ianto was particularly nervous this morning.  They had gotten back from Powell House the previous night and the Welshman had gone straight to bed.

The Welshman buzzed back and forth as he got his breakfast and then didn’t eat it.  He spent then spent a long time in his bedroom selecting an outfit.

“What do you think about temporarily changing your pseudonym?” Ianto asked as finally came downstairs.

“What would you like me to call myself?” the Doctor asked suspiciously.

“Anything you like.  It’s just that you are rather well known as Doctor John Smith and I don’t want to risk any of those potential paradoxes you may cause if I introduce you to someone,” Ianto said quickly.

“Who do you want to introduce me to?”

“I have an appointment with an estate agent today we’re going to look at some apartment’s he’s selected for me.  I’ve never bought a place just for me and I’m a little nervous,” Ianto answered quietly.

“Is that why you’re wearing a suit?” the Doctor asked.

Ianto looked down almost surprised to see black pinstripes.  He was wearing it with a dark blue shirt and a silver and grey diagonal striped tie.

“I suppose so,” Ianto answered his thumb brushing the material.

“I’ll think of something,” the Doctor promised unable to stand the slightly lost look in the Welshman’s whole posture.

Ianto visible relaxed and they left the house as soon as he cleared the breakfast dishes away.  As they turned out of Ianto’s street, neither noticed the car entering from the other end and pulling up outside the house they’d just left.

Ianto drove them into town and they parked in the customer car park behind the estate agents.  They were greeted inside by a young man about Ianto’s age with short blond hair and blue eyes.

The estate agent’s eyes looked Ianto up and down before looking at his face with a beaming smile.  Ianto introduced the Doctor using the name Rick Cropper almost in an attempt to deflect the man’s interest from him.

Ianto chose to follow the estate agent, Simon, in his car.  They pulled up into the car park of the first high rise building.

“This is the first of the three flats that I will be showing you today,” Simon began leading them through the lobby into the lift.  “They are well within your price range and are fully furnished.  If there are any changes you wish to make before you take ownership of your new flat let me know and I will see to it personally.”

There was a distinct new feel to the building as though it had not been open for long.  The same impression screamed in the flat itself.

All the walls and carpets were in neutral tones with bland furniture to match.  It had a flat screen TV, digibox and DVD recorder with surround sound and a top quality stereo system.

The quality of the entertainment technology was only beaten by that of the kitchen.  It had several time saving gadgets, including an elaborate coffee maker, in addition to those normally found in a kitchen.

There were two bedrooms, both with en-suite bathrooms done in white tiles.  Again the same neutral tones that twenty-first century designers favoured in new flats.

It had a beautiful view.  You could see Cardiff spread beautifully below.  Ianto though stayed away from the windows.

To the Doctor it lacked character.  It was an off the peg home completely lacking in personality, it didn’t suit Ianto at all.

As the estate agent rattled on about the various features there was a puzzled look on Ianto’s face.  The Welshman answered the agent’s questions monosyllabically until he took the hint that Ianto wasn’t thrilled with this apartment.

The second one was part of a block of flats above a newly build supermarket.  The apartment they were touring was not as high up as the previous one and the Doctor could see Simon making a mental note of how much more relaxed Ianto felt.

The furniture looked like it was better quality and while the entertainment system was as high tech as the other place, the kitchen wasn’t.  Again it had two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.

They had a break for lunch at a local restaurant.  Simon put it on his expenses and began to ask Ianto questions about what he wanted from his new place.

Half way through lunch, the Doctor realised that Simon was flirting with Ianto.  The Welshman was responding by becoming more relaxed, though not more interested in the man himself.

It took a look from Ianto for the Doctor to realise that Simon was flirting with him too.  The Time Lord put it down to salesman charm before he could feel comfortable again.

It was the third apartment that the Time Lord knew Ianto liked.  It had a similar decor to the previous two but it was older, felt lived in.

Yet there was still something bothering the young man, something he hadn’t quite figured out until Simon gave Ianto the leaflets detailing each flat’s information.

“I can’t afford this,” Ianto said in a horrified whisper.

“What?”

“All of them are several tens of thousands of pounds out of the price range I specified.  They will have done a credit check, they should know there is no way I can afford this on my current salary.  Okay I’m going to be renting my house but that still wouldn’t cover this,” the Welshman hissed loudly.

“But we were told you could,” Simon said making them both jump.

“What?” Ianto asked.

“Your solicitor came to see us, told us that you had a recent windfall and were able to afford an apartment in this price range,” Simon answered.

“My solicitor?” Ianto asked.

“Mr Lloyd.  Oh I forgot he told me to give you your appointment card.  Apparently you forgot to take it with you before left.

“That’s why I’ve rushed you and only selected three apartments.  I was going to take you to the show flat in Skypoint but you have an appointment at three thirty,” Simon said digging through his pockets and extracting a small card.

“So I have, you’re right I forgot,” Ianto said smiling shyly at Simon making the estate agent beam.

Leaving Simon with the promise that he would think about the flats and get back to him soon, Ianto and the Doctor returned to the Welshman’s car.

The sound of inner alarm bells rang in both their ears.  Ianto’s was the natural paranoia of working for Torchwood, the Doctor’s because he could think of one person willing to ensure Ianto had a nice flat for reasons that had nothing to do with altruism.

Ianto looked at the card his face frowning.

“Apart from the obvious what’s bothering you?” the Doctor asked.

“Mr Lloyd is my family solicitor,” Ianto said quietly.

“How did he know you were looking for a new flat?” the Time Lord asked.

“I e-mailed him to tell him.  I’m going to need his help with all the legal arrangement of buying property and renting out my house.

“I’ve known him since I was little.  He knows I can’t afford those places.  What’s going on?” Ianto said to himself.

“We’d best find out,” the Doctor said trying to hide the worry that they might be about to walk into a trap.


	37. Chapter Thirty-seven

Llewellyn, Lloyd and Worchester Solicitors, established 1920 was next door to the estate agents where they met Simon.

Ianto explained as they headed back that Mr Lloyd was semi-retired which was why he wrote to the solicitor so early.  He wasn’t sure if he would want to handle the matter himself or pass it on to one of his partners.

The Welshman hadn’t been surprised when Mr Lloyd agreed to look after his affairs.  While being nowhere close to becoming the most expensive client, the old solicitor had been a friend of Ianto’s father.

The truth of this statement was evident with Mr Lloyd’s greeting.

“Ianto,” the elder man said warmly.

“Mr Lloyd,” Ianto returned shaking his hand.

“You know I never expected to see you looking or being so formal.  Though you were always polite even for a wild child,” Mr Lloyd said looking Ianto over.

“Sorry Uncle Steve,” Ianto replied shyly but the older man just smiled.

“And I must apologise for my little subterfuge.  I thought you deserved a little teasing after the cowboy way my services were treated.  Not your fault I know, but you were always a cheeky lad so I hoped you wouldn’t mind,” Steve said apologetically.

“Why did you tell the estate agent that I could afford those flats?” Ianto asked.

“Because you can Ianto,” Mr Lloyd replied but Ianto looked confused.

“A couple of weeks after you last came to see me to change your will I was visited by a rather officious lawyer called Sawyer.  She informed me that a considerable amount of money was to be entrusted to this firm on your behalf.

“The purpose of the money was for the purchase of a house or flat should you choose to buy and rent your current property rather than sell it.  The money was also to be made available should you encounter a financial emergency.

“I was to be the executor and you were not to be informed unless you required it.  I asked Sawyer why and she said that if you knew, you were likely to give the lot away and that her client wanted it available to look after you.

“I asked and investigated where I could but I was unable to find the source, only a guarantee that the money was legal and yours to do with as you wished.  Sawyer though made plausible arguments for me to acquiesce to her client’s wishes,” Mr Lloyd explained.

“What happens if the money is unused?” Ianto asked.

“They it will be divided with all your other assets between your sister, her offspring and the charities you named under the terms of your last will.  I don’t know where the money comes from but it’s yours,” Steve said firmly but kindly.

Ianto was quiet for a few minutes.  Nothing Steve Lloyd had said calmed the fears in the Doctor’s mind.

“Ianto whoever this client of Sawyer’s was, they had your welfare at heart.  That was quiet clear in the terms of me overseeing the money.  You can divide it all up between your sister and the charities now if you like, but it won’t be what they want,” he said gently.

“I have no idea who this client might be.  I don’t know anything about this money,” Ianto said frustrated.

Mr Lloyd leaned back and opened a desk drawer.  He took out a sealed envelope and passed it across to Ianto.

“I was given this to give to you upon my telling you about the money.  I hope it explains everything,” the Solicitor said.

Ianto looked at his name of the envelope and stilled.  He slipped it into his pocket before the Doctor could have a look.

“If you don’t mind I will read it at home.  I have a lot to think about,” Ianto said standing.

“Of course,” Mr Lloyd said and led them to the door.  “Let me know when you’ve made your decision.”

Ianto was silent as he returned to his car.  The Doctor itched with curiosity to find out what was in the letter and who wrote it.

Ianto looked so distressed though.  They didn’t go back straight away.  They drove through various streets going away then back to the Welshman’s home.

The Doctor could tell by the small smile Ianto flashed his way that he was finally ready to look inside.

However when they got into the house there was somebody waiting.

 


	38. Chapter Thirty-eight

“Where the hell have you been?” Owen shouted as they entered the lounge.

“What?” Ianto asked startled.

“You weren’t here yesterday when I came to give you your physical and you weren’t here today, and you weren’t at work,” the medic accused.

The Doctor mentally calculated how many days had passed since Owen put Ianto on medical leave.  The Londoner was right yesterday was the fifth day and today the sixth.

He wondered when he’d stopped noticing the passage of time.  He also wondered why Ianto hadn’t corrected him last night.

“So Gwen didn’t tell you,” Ianto said crossing the room and heading to the kitchen.

“Tell me what?” Owen asked as he followed to watch Ianto’s back as he made coffee.

“When I come in tomorrow I will be handing in my two months notice.  I will make sure my replacement is trained and then I will go.

“I went flat hunting today.  I sent Gwen an e-mail and I was on annual leave today so that I could look,” Ianto replied working the coffee maker.

“You’re leaving Torchwood?” Owen asked with a quiet voice.

“Yes,” Ianto replied.

“You want to forget us, Lisa, Jack?” Owen demanded.

“No but this is the only way, the only choice,” Ianto replied quietly.

“Only choice!  You have hundreds of choices.  Why this one?  Why are you quitting on us?” Owen demanded fiercely.

“I want to be free,” Ianto said softly and the medic stilled.

“Are we really that bad?” he asked. 

Ianto didn’t answer which to both Owen and the Doctor felt said everything.

“Jack...” Owen began.

“Jack isn’t here and Jack wouldn’t stop me,” Ianto replied.  The “Jack didn’t make me feel this way” was said by the tension in his shoulders.

“You didn’t feel like this last week,” Owen probed.

“That was before my new position was made clear to me,” Ianto said stiffly turning around and offering Owen a coffee.

“I didn’t come here for coffee,” Owen said taking the mug and putting it on the worktop behind Ianto.  “I’m your doctor and I’m responsible for your welfare, medical and psychological.”

“I’m fine,” Ianto informed him.

“Really?” Owen demanded.

“Yes,” the Welshman said looking into him eyes.

“Well I have to make a medical diagnosis before I can confirm you are fit to return to work,” Owen said haughtily grabbing the coffee and heading back to the lounge.

Ianto sighed, rolling his eyes and followed.

“Have you always been nervous of doctors or just since the battle?” Owen asked as he began his medical exam.

“I used to like my doctor in London.  Her name was Alison Thompson, she was married with kids.  She was friendly and cheerful, pleasant and reassuring, one of those doctors you know cares, compassionately about healing people,” Ianto told him.

“How sickeningly sweet for you,” Owen barbed.

“It’s on my medical records that I was a control subject for one of Torchwood’s experiments,” Ianto stated.

“Right, you didn’t just get you blood and urine samples taken at you ‘mandatory three month checkups’.  You had to give samples to them a week later.  So you didn’t like being a human pin cushion?” Owen asked.

“Alison Thompson was injecting eight of her patients with an alien substance that hadn’t even passed the second stage of laboratory testing.  All eight were low grade employees with desk jobs in the Tower.

“It was supposed to boost the immune system and aid the body’s ability to heal.  After the substance had been metabolised successfully by the subjects with no ill effects, she decided to deliberately infect them.

“It worked but it made all eight psychotically insane.  They had all been at home recovering from the infection when they killed their families, then neighbours, before being stopped by police.

“She was arrested in the Tower and interrogated for hours.  All the doctors had their work thoroughly examined to ensure no one else was experimenting without permission,” Ianto said quietly, telling both Owen and the Doctor that he had known the people involved.

“She couldn’t use you because the changes would have been noticed by the second set of tests.  What happened to Thompson?” Owen asked.

“She was murdered in her cell by one of her guards before they could decide what to do with her.  A revenge killing, he was having an affair with one of her married male test subjects, only a few of their friends knew,” the sad smile said Ianto knew both men had been happy.

“Blimey you got all the nut jobs in London,” Owen said seriously.

“I don’t think I would have been able to let you anywhere near me if you had been cheerful and pleasant.  Or cold and clinical,” Ianto said suppressing a shudder that Owen was too close to miss.

“Fortunately for you I’m surly and irritable,” Owen said almost pleasantly.

“Yes,” Ianto replied with a smile which Owen returned.

“Why did you stay?  After Lisa,” Owen asked.

“It wasn’t Lisa, it killed.  I just wanted to help her, I never meant for anyone to die.  I wanted to make a mends.  I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to anyone else,” Ianto replied sorrow edging into his voice.

He looked at Owen’s face and saw a little scepticism.  “I know it isn’t much but I was doing what I could.”

“And Jack?  Was that doing what you could?” Owen asked nastily.

“I was not his whore,” Ianto replied his voice deepening as it tried to control his anger.

“Good,” Owen said brightly “I just wanted to make sure you knew that.”

“I’m sorry?” the Welshman asked confused.

Owen reached out and carefully took Ianto’s tie running a thumb over it.

“This is more than just your professional image.  More than armour to protect yourself.  It’s a message that like you hide in plain sight.

“It tells all of us who you are and where you came from.  That you are the mighty fallen from the heavenly Tower into the hellish Hub,” Owen said dangerously.

“Cardiff isn’t that terribly, and London is certainly _not_ that wonderful,” Ianto replied insulted and both Owen and the Doctor smiled.

“Maybe but I know your type Ianto Jones.  Person of mystery with more layers and hidden depths than an onion the size of Belgium, with trust issues and a tragic past.  Your type are bloody hard work,” Owen said throwing Ianto with the change of subject but at the last sentence the Welshman looked down.

“He made the effort though didn’t he?  He could have had anyone, Gwen for example would have been easy, but he wanted you.  Got to know you, got you to trust him?” Owen asked probing but Ianto refused to look at him.

“My god you went to him!” the medic exclaimed making Ianto look up.  “You went to Jack because he was an easy lay,” Owen added amused.

“Have you finished yet?” Ianto asked frostily.

“Yeah I’ve finished,” Owen said with a sigh.

Ianto waited for him to pack his things up so that he could escort Owen from his house.

“You know if you ever fancy another turn in front of the cameras...” Ianto’s raised eyebrow and stony expression halted Owen’s sentence.

Ianto sagged against the door as he closed it behind the medic.  He took a deep breath and returned to the lounge.

“At the risk of getting thrown out too I just have to ask this question,” the Doctor said as soon as the Welshman appeared.  “Is everyone at Torchwood except you and Tosh obsessed with sex?”


	39. Chapter Thirty-nine

Ianto didn’t answer the question or throw the Time Lord out.  He just ignored both and retrieved the letter from his jacket pocket and sat on the sofa.

Having been ignored, the Doctor decided he was entirely free to position himself behind Ianto so that he could read over the Welshman’s shoulder.

 

_Dear Ianto,_

_I am hoping that I get the chance to explain in person.  I really hope when you read this you remember who I am.  If you don’t then I’m your former boss and the money is yours; use it well and leave it at that._

_It really is all yours.  I had Tosh do some digging into your background, you understand.  Your flat in London was seized by the authorities along with your accounts but considering how sneaky you were with your building society accounts, you know that already.  I’ll probably sort something out with you soon about the furniture and effects._

_This fund I have set up includes your money from London, the money you are owed for your London flat and the compensation money you never claimed for battle trauma._

_The fund also includes Lisa’s moneys, the pay out for her death in service etc.  She named you as her next of kin in her will and all her documents._

_There is also a little something extra from ~~me~~ Torchwood Cardiff.  While you’ve been on suspension I have come to realise all the things that you do for us that go unnoticed.  It’s just a little thank you._

_You can probably guess as to why the subterfuge.  The way you feel right now you’re likely to either throw the money in my face or give it all away to charity, noble but that won’t help you._

_Let me make a mends Ianto, let me have my wish.  Buy yourself a nice new home with the latest in high tech security systems._

_Just use your money well, find security if not happiness._

_Yours sincerely_

_Jack_

 

“Jack did it,” the Doctor exclaimed with relief.  He had been so afraid that...

Ianto jumped up making the Time Lord stagger back.  He dropped the letter and headed straight for the kitchen.

When he got there Ianto was cleaning.  Already gleaming surfaces were being wiped over in an effort to control what was already tamed.

The Doctor strode over and took hold of Ianto’s hands.  The Welshman tried to pull away but he kept his grip firm.

“I don’t know what to do,” Ianto said as he looked at the Doctor’s face and saw the unasked question.  “I don’t know what to do and Jack isn’t here to tell me what the hell he thinks he’s playing at.”

“Look from what I can tell most of the money seems to be yours,” the Time Lord began.

“Hah, I left London on the run.  I made sure the authorities couldn’t find out about by building society accounts, withdrew what I could from my bank accounts and ran.

“There was very little left and I doubt Lisa had that much more than I did.  Whatever money was made from the sale of my flat probably went towards repaying the mortgage.

“As for whatever compensation I may be entitled to.  There were over eight hundred people in the tower.  Eight hundred to divide between them whatever money they set aside for compensation all at once, so I doubt there was really very much.

“All that combined is hardly going to bring me half the cost of one of those flats.  That means it must have been a huge thank you/apology.  How can I accept it and not feel like I’ve been bought?” Ianto asked pulling away.

“Ianto the one thing in all the rubbish Owen said that’s true, is that Jack doesn’t need to buy anyone.  In what I could stand seeing of that film, I saw that Jack liked making you enjoy what you were doing.

“Whenever you talk to me about him, Ianto there is such fondness, warmth, affection, you know what you shared was real, a mutual relationship.  Why are you letting her make you doubt that?” the Doctor demanded but the Welshman didn’t answer.

The Time Lord realised Ianto wasn’t just looking away, he was looking at a particular spot.  The Doctor didn’t really want to cheat and look into the past but if it was the only way to get answers.

He opened his awareness of what had gone and could see Ianto hunched up in that spot, knees drawn up defensively to his chest.  Jack crouched beside him, itching to touch, to comfort but not daring to.

The Doctor couldn’t face listening to Ianto tell Jack about Canary Wharf, not with Ianto next to him, and began to withdraw to the present immediately.  It must have been not long after that that Jack decided to set up the money for him.

Seconds after he began to return he felt a sudden flare of emotion from Jack, shock and horror.  The Time Lord couldn’t help looking to see what had provoked such a reaction.

Ianto was looking defiantly into Jack’s eyes as he said “According to the regulations, in cases of betrayal against Torchwood, especially those involving dangerous alien technology, the criminal must be interrogated thoroughly with authorised use of torture for the good of the empire before execution.”

“No,” the Doctor said returning to the present with a jolt.  “No no no.  It wasn’t just money you gave up when you left London was it, it was your life.”

Ianto jerked his head looking at him startled.  The Time Lord instantly felt as though he had broken a trust but he had to go on now.

“In coming here it was to heal Lisa and hide away with her or die.  You never expected to be forgiven, never expected a second chance of redemption, of friendship but Jack gave them to you.

“You want to be free.  You don’t mean Torchwood and the others, they are the second chance Jack gave you, _they_ were your choice.

 “And Gwen’s words have taken that from you.  If they weren’t really your choice, they become forced labour, you become a slave without salvation.” _Your only chance of freedom comes with death._

“No no she’s wrong Ianto Jones and you know it, it was your choice.  Jack was offered the chance of redemption once, he wouldn’t deny someone else their chance.” _Not if he rebuilt Torchwood in my honour._

“Owen was right when he said Jack wanted you.  You’re intelligent, witty and attractive.  Why wouldn’t he want you?” The Doctor asked but Ianto’s sudden look into his eyes, and away again, gave him his answer.

_Because of me.  All this time you’ve been trying to prove to both of us that you were worth something, and yet you felt you’d already lost._

_Why would Jack not what you Ianto?  Because he’s already run off with me?  What is a quiet, unassuming Welshman compared to a loud Time Lord with all the universe of space and time to roam in?_

_Everything Ianto, you’ve never called him wrong, never allowed him to be subjected to a year of torture, never left him._

_He’s going to come back to you Ianto, to your quiet calm order.  He’s going to come back with the hope that, in that very giving heart of yours, there might be some forgiveness, love, healing for him._

_And I can’t tell you._

With a sigh the Doctor returned to the lounge and picked up the discarded letter.  He folded it neatly and placed it under the mantel piece clock.

He then returned and took the unresisting Welshman’s hand.  He led him to the hall and helped Ianto on with his coat and took him out.

The Doctor drove them to the first Italian restaurant he could find.  There he hoped Ianto could stop worrying about his unexpected, unwished for, windfall and start worrying instead about tomato sauce.

 

 


	40. Chapter Forty

Ianto sat in quiet thoughtfulness all through dinner.  The Doctor couldn’t stand the withdrawn silence so he talked about restaurants throughout the universe, it was the only topic, apart from houses, that he could think of.

That night Ianto’s sleep was full of nightmares.  The Doctor calmed him and he slept peacefully for a while before the second.

It was when Ianto was sleeping peacefully the second time that the Doctor got up.  He couldn’t stay with the Welshman and not know what happened to him at Canary Wharf.

He slipped silently down to the kitchen and hoped to return before the next nightmare.  He sat himself on the floor and let his awareness seek the past.

He wept as he listened to Ianto’s flat, emotionless voice.  It was not just the young man’s pain as he recalled his experience, but his words invoked the Time Lord’s own memories of the battle, his loss of Rose.

The Doctor didn’t notice the quiet footfall of bare feet enter, slip away and return.  He didn’t feel the blanket being wrapped around him.

The Time Lord noticed the warm body sat next to him only because instinct made him lean into it.  An arm curled around him rubbing his arm comfortingly.

“You can see into the past, can’t you?” Ianto asked softly as he returned to the present.

“Yes,” the Time Lord replied then asked, “how did you know?”

“Earlier, when you realised Torchwood London had the death penalty, you had the same look in your eyes as Jack had when I told him.  Now you’re weeping at nothing on my kitchen floor,” Ianto replied softly.

“I didn’t mean to pry,” the Doctor said and, though he couldn’t see it, he knew Ianto had raised a sceptical eyebrow.  “Okay I did, but I didn’t expect...

“I never bothered to find out what happened to everyone else.  When I lost Rose I felt such grief, such anger, I had to be stopped.

“I didn’t care what happened to you.  You were all equally to blame.  I went to find a way for a last goodbye and I never looked back,” the Doctor said softly.

“I doubt it was anyone’s finest hour.  Jack felt the same way.  I got my job here because I was persistent, I look good in a suit and I had a pterodactyl.

“I’m guessing that the person Jack lost at Canary Wharf is your Rose.  She was his friend but she was more than that to you.

“You loved her didn’t you?  You thought maybe one day she would understand you when you’re naked in the dark,” Ianto said softly.

“Yes,” the Doctor said in surprise looking at Ianto.  The Welshman nodded and looked away.

The Doctor felt guilty.  Although not responsible for Lisa’s death he was responsible for Ianto feeling empty grief again so soon.

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor whispered.

“So am I,” Ianto said gently back.

The Doctor felt glad, and guilty, that Ianto didn’t move away from him.  The closeness he recognised was not born of any amorous feeling but rather despair.

Ianto was reaching out to the only other living being close to him.  _Was that how it started with Jack?  One desperate being reaching out to another he saw as equally despairing?  And each other finding hope, comfort and love._

His ill thought of question was interrupted by the shiver that passed through Ianto.  The Doctor suddenly realised that they were sitting on a kitchen floor in the middle of the night and that the Welshman had to be freezing.

“Did you have another nightmare?” the Time Lord asked as he silently the helped Ianto to rise.

“I felt you leave.  I guess I’m just used being with someone at night,” Ianto replied as the Doctor wrapped the blanket around Ianto and led him back upstairs.

_He’s so vulnerable.  If I had been another sort of man it would be easy for me to lay him down upon his bed, to kiss him and pour my misery into him.  To let myself, for a little while, be understood in the naked darkness._

_But that would break Ianto Jones completely.  The last thing he needs is another lover._

The Doctor sang a Venusian lullaby as he carefully tucked Ianto back into bed.  It worked to relax Welsh archivist as well as it worked on Agador.

The Time Lord deliberately sat above the covers next to him.  His eyes stared watchfully into the night as though he were guarding the Welshman from a parade of nightly suitors.

 _Jack knew_ , the Doctor thought.  _Everyone thinks that as Jack is a prolific lover, he is also capable of being a great seducer._

_Jack let Ianto come to him.  He let Ianto have the time he needed to heal.  He let Ianto come to him on Ianto’s terms, for comfort, for healing.  Knowing Ianto as well as I do, I doubt he would take healing without giving it in return._

_It wasn’t just our old friendship and Martha’s presence that stopped Jack from at least attempting to strangle me when we reunited.  There was also the peace, love and forgiveness that Ianto brought into his life._

_I’m not going to let anyone else hurt you,_ the Doctor vowed, knowing even as he thought it that for one future Ianto Jones it was a vow he had to break.

 


	41. Chapter Forty-one

When Ianto and the Doctor returned to the Hub he didn’t require a pick and shovel after all.  It seemed that someone on the team has at least made some effort to tidy everything, though no one had done any archiving.

Myfanwy was pleased to find the Welshman returned.  _Another lonely being turning to Ianto for comfort._

There was a room close to the archives where the team had dumped all the artefacts and reports ready for Ianto to file.  Far from being angry though the Welshman seemed pleased.

“They’re not allowed in the archives any more.  I swear when I got here everything was filed either under A for Artefact or T for Tech,” the young man said with a smile as he began to order everything in the room.

They returned to the main Hub in time to meet Toshiko.  She greeted Ianto with a hug and asked him how he was.

Instead of the expected “I’m fine,” Ianto told her all about the flat hunting and Jack’s letter.  When he finished though Toshiko looked decidedly guilty.

“You knew,” Ianto stated.

“Yes I put all the money into one account when I was investigating you while you were on suspension.  I told Jack that you were not very likely to accept the money, but it was his idea to put it towards a house for you.

“Considering what Jack added though, I don’t think that he’s bought a house since the 1950’s,” she told him with a smile.

“But there’s so much,” Ianto said.

“Do you remember the Treily?” she asked.

“Beautiful, violet skin with fur, a Canary Wharf survivor was using them to re-enact the Holocaust.  You were in the hospital so Jack took me with the team, not that I was much use,” Ianto replied.

“At catching James you weren’t, but for future intergalactic relations you were.  Over New Year, while I was covering for Owen, they contacted us, I wrote a report for Jack.

“They gave their thanks for what we did and said that they would stay clear of us for a while, but sometime in the future they would be willing to seek relations with us,” she said beaming proudly at Ianto.

“I remember your report.  I’m glad they didn’t hold a grudge,” Ianto said ignoring the praise she was giving him.

“I didn’t tell Jack that they left you a gift, you specifically Ianto.  I kept some of your gift for you and when you’re ready I will give it to you.

“Most of it was gold, silver and precious gems which I sold on your behalf.  The bulk of the money in your house fund comes from that,” she explained.

“Why would they do that?”

“You and James both survived the same battle but you had two completely opposite reactions.  James burned with a twisted Torchwood London philosophy that made him hateful.

“You Ianto have become Torchwood Cardiff.  We help where we can and stop when we must.

“The Treily are telepathic, I think they felt some kind of kinship to you.  I also think they watched too much TV because they seemed to think that if money didn’t make you happy, it would at least make you comfortable.

“I accepted the gift on your behalf because I knew you wouldn’t.  I put the money into your house fund knowing that it would be used for good eventually,” Tosh said smiling at him.

“You think I should use it?” Ianto asked.

“I think that if you cannot believe that people care for you, want you to be safe and secure then consider this.  House prices are going up at all the time.  Any property you buy will be worth more in a few years time for your next of kin,” Tosh said firmly.

“You think I’m being ridiculous?” Ianto asked.

“I think you are confused, hurt and you’ve lost your centre.  We all feel that way at the moment Ianto, it’s just that your pain is heartbreak and you’ve been through so much recently.

“Your only alternative, if you want a new place, is to ask Gwen to let Torchwood help you out,” Tosh said and Ianto’s shoulders sagged with a heavy sigh.

“I’m glad that’s settled,” she said with a smile.  “You really don’t owe anybody anything.  Though I really could do with a coffee,” she added hopefully.

“I’ll make you one,” Ianto said heading for the coffee maker.

“Is that all true?” the Doctor asked.

“Yes, I knew Jack wouldn’t read my report straight away so he wouldn’t realise I was covering for Owen.  By the time he found out he and Ianto were dancing around each other like stalking cats, so I decided not to mention the money, I thought it was a work thing.

“These doubts about Jack aren’t new.  The agent of the creature that killed Jack for three days, he sowed them.  He sent Jack and I to 1941 and there we met a man Jack knew was going to die the next day.  Jack fell for him and kissed him before we returned here.

“I told Ianto and the next day we were all tempted to open the rift.  Ianto’s heart had already begun to break, or he never would have helped us.

“A kiss and a conversation cut short by Gwen were not really enough to let Jack set things straight before he left,” Tosh said sadly.  The Doctor sighed inwardly as Ianto returned with the coffee.

He wasn’t sure Ianto getting a new flat would make it easier to convince the Welshman to stay with Torchwood, but if Toshiko approved then he had no ally to help him stop it.

 

 

 


	42. Chapter Forty-two

Toshiko thanked Ianto as he handed her the coffee.  She motioned him to follow her to her work station and the Doctor joined them.

“While you were off we found the experiment responsible for our jumbled rooms.  I have e-mailed you a list of artefacts for you to confirm it but Owen has already checked the morgue.  The scientists responsible are missing from their drawers.  There was also an agent, from the same time, who never went near those labs whilst the experiments took place and he was still present,” she said grimly.

“It seems my plan to get the whole floor rebuilt is the one we’re going with.  We were just waiting for you before deciding what to use the new space for.”

“I’m not going to be here very much longer  I don’t need a say,” Ianto pointed out.

“True, but we all know who the one who will be supervising and organising the workmen is.  You need to have a say to tell us how feasible it all is,” Tosh told him and the Welshman nodded.

“I suppose you are right,” Ianto answered as Owen entered.

Ianto immediately headed up to the coffee maker to make him and Gwen a coffee.  Owen was carrying a cardboard box and opened it as the Welshman returned.

“Jam doughnut?” Owen asked Tosh and she took one with a thank you.

“Jam doughnut?” the medic said offering the box to Ianto in a manner that didn’t seem entirely innocent.

“No thank you,” Ianto replied as he handed the coffee over.  He blushed a little as Owen looked him up and down while accepting the beverage.

Ianto picked up the report he had written on his relationship with Jack, sealed in a red folder, and the letter containing his resignation.  He handed both to Gwen with her coffee and she looked flustered and embarrassed, but the young man moved away from her before she could say anything.

“Jam doughnut?” Owen offered mischievously enjoying Gwen’s discomfort.

“I’ll just put these away and then can we gather to talk about our problem floor,” she said, loud enough to prevent Ianto from making his escape into the archives, and hurried to Jack’s office to lock the folder and envelope in Jack’s desk.

They gathered in a rough circle around Tosh’s desk.  Ianto remained a few feet away but close to the technical genius.

While they were organising themselves the Doctor took the opportunity to steal a jam doughnut.  Both Tosh and Ianto noticed and pretended that they hadn’t.

“So has anyone come up with any ideas about what we should use that floor for?  Rebuild the labs and storage areas?” Gwen suggested.

“I think we should build a new board room there,” Tosh suggested.

“I know it hasn’t been on our list of priorities but we already have a board room to rebuild,” Gwen pointed out gesturing the glass conference room above.

“Yeah well it’s hardly secure and not very big.  It’s going to be really cramped with the three people we will need to replace Ianto,” Owen said.

“We only need to find one person to replace me,” the Welshman objected.

“Like I was saying unless we can find another intelligent, zealous, workaholic ex-barista who knows the dewy-decimal system to replace Ianto, it will be cramped with the two extra people we need,” Owen said smugly helping himself to another doughnut.

“I can also upgrade the systems we use in the boardroom if it is new, make it more in line with what we have here,” Tosh added.

“Okay Ianto anything to add?” Gwen asked.

“With a new room we could organise the plumbing so that there can be a coffee maker down there,” Ianto answered distracted, he was watching the jam from Owen’s doughnut dripping onto the medic’s shirt.

The Doctor caught a slightly please smile flicker across Tosh’s face as she turned from the Welshman back to Gwen.  The Time Lord looked from the glass room back to Owen and knew Ianto was thinking of sticky finger marks.

“Okay if we do build a board room down there what about the rest of the level and what will we use the old conference room for?” Gwen asked with a frown at Ianto’s distant answer.

“Well we are keeping the null radiation labs as we cannot put them elsewhere.  We have plenty of unused lab space.  Maybe some secure observation labs and storage areas,” Tosh suggested.

“You know we could use the old conference room as a sort of green house,” Owen said cautiously.

“What do you mean?” Gwen asked.

“Over the years we have collected a few alien plant samples and seeds.  Until Ianto added watering to his duties they used to die off after a couple of weeks due to lack of care in one of the bio labs.

“A lot of medicines originate from the properties of plants, who knows what potential cures we have been neglecting?  And it would be a nice place to hang out and relax,” Owen explained.

“Hang on a minute I’ve seen Day of the Triffids, what happens if they all start interbreeding and we end up with a plant monster,” Gwen asked.

“I think you meant cross-pollinating not interbreeding and it is highly unlikely that various alien species would be compatible,” Owen said.

“When I had the glass and doors replaced I added them to the lockdown sequence.  It’s just safety glass I know but I thought that it might useful.

“Tosh could easily program it with quarantine protocols and, if necessary, we can rig a second sprinkler system, one containing weed killer,” Ianto said quietly.

“Okay then how are we going to do this?” Gwen asked.

“I can get an architect in to survey the floor and do an assessment of what we need and what is possible.  Then, when we have approved his plans, I can get together a building crew to start work,” Ianto told her.

“Okay get on it this becomes your first priority.  Tosh, when Ianto has the architect I you want to work with them sorting out the plans for the electrics.  Owen and I will try to keep on top of everything else,” Gwen said and Ianto nodded.

With that she dismissed them and the Doctor stole another doughnut before following Ianto up to the tourist office in search of an architect.


	43. Chapter Forty-three

The Doctor watched with fascination as Ianto hacked into a UNIT secure database.  The programs he was using were designed by Toshiko, but the execution was both cautious and flawless.

It was interesting to the Time Lord because, while he often had to hack into places, he was usually short for time and used the sonic screwdriver.  Ianto hadn’t asked for his help but then he wouldn’t have been able to give it anyway, temporal paradoxes.

He was curious as to why the search for an architect had led to UNIT’s files until he realised that the Welshman was targeting recent building projects.  Ianto was after recommendations from top security institutes.

With that in mind he also hacked into the secret services database and MOD for other potential candidates.  He stopped when he had seven names and it was time to get lunch for the others.

In the afternoon he began to do background checks on all of them.  He started with their most recent work and ended with the grades they all got at school.

The amount of information Ianto collected on each was quite frightening.  He knew more about the history of each of them than they did themselves, and used it to eliminate four of the candidates.

“You don’t really need to go into that much detail do you?” the Time Lord asked.

“I like to be thorough,” Ianto replied not looking at him.

“Do they know that you do this much research on people?” he asked meaning the others.

“They’ve never bothered to find out.  It’s a no go area,” the Welshman replied.

“What?” he asked confused.  Ianto checked the CCTV camera and then looked at him.

“I was a researcher for London.  I didn’t just research the historical context of alien artefacts, I investigated people.  People who suddenly started to behave oddly near sites of suspected alien activity, people who just suddenly appeared.”

The Doctor’s blood ran cold.  _Torchwood pulled me in... He knew exactly how bad I am... I made him forget all about his research into me, added triggers to blind him._

“As soon as I joined London’s psychic research programme they began to use me as an unofficial security check.  Just the research and archiving department first, then others,” Ianto said unaware of the tension the Doctor was feeling beside him.

“They wanted you to read minds?” he said darkly unable to stop the emotion in his voice.

“Not at first, I didn’t have that ability,” Ianto explained, “but I’ve always had an awareness.  It’s like when you know someone well you can tell when something’s wrong instantly, only for me I can know that without having met a person before.  I could always tell a liar, a deceiver.   It was one of the things that London found very useful. 

“You’re right when I started being able to read minds they believed that’s how I tested the recruits.  I think I was more uncomfortable with that ability than they were.  I used to do full background checks and tested my awareness against them instead.

“I didn’t miss it when I lost it after Canary Wharf.  I missed my awareness but Jack helped me get that back,” Ianto told him with a smile.

“So you met everyone that was recruited in the last few years.  Does that mean you ...”

“Met your friend Mickey Smith?  Yes I did,” Ianto told him with a smile.

“And you passed him, a known ally of your number one enemy?” the Doctor asked with a raided eyebrow.

“I told you that you are dangerous but not a monster.  I didn’t need to meet you to know that.  Whether he’d been sent by you or was there freelance, I knew it was because of the Ghost Shift project and that project terrified me,” Ianto said shrinking in on himself.

The Doctor patted him reassuringly.  He was sure the project would be terrifying for someone with Ianto’s abilities.  Not just the echoes of humanity in pain within the metal shell, but the proximity to the void as they opened it.

“Everyone knew I was a test by then.  He timed his trivial errand to see me with a ghost shift, partly I think to put me off and partly to see my reactions.

“It used to make me feel ill and he was very kind to me, even made me a cup of tea, stayed with me until I felt better even though he knew proximity made him easier to read.  He was a good man,” Ianto said fondly.

“Yes he was, still is as far as I know.  He’s with Rose in the parallel universe,” the Doctor said remembering Mickey himself with a smile.

“I’m glad he’s safe,” Ianto said quietly.

He finished his reports on the three potential architects in silence.  When they were complete he took them down to Gwen so that she could make her selection.

 

 


	44. Chapter Forty-four

“Okay so how do we do this?” Gwen asked.

She was sat at Jack’s desk the file with Ianto’s report about his relationship with Jack unopened beneath her hands.  She tapped the top nervously with her fingers, _tap tap tap tap_ , the rhythm of the Archangel Network.

Ianto silently put the three files down on her desk with a cup of coffee.

“You look over the candidates and you choose which architect you want.  I arrange an interview, sort out accommodations when they agree, we bring them in though the garage entrance, it’s the one we have to use for the work crew.

“The architect will do an initial survey, draw up plans with Tosh’s specifications.  We will probably use a crew the architect is familiar with, they have all worked on top secret facilities and I will do back ground checks before letting them on base.

“We get them to do the work, pay them handsomely, recton them so they don’t remember us but write them all fake but glowing references,” the Welshman said factually.

His eyes looked not a Gwen but a point near her head.  He did not look at the folder or her tapping fingers.

“And we can afford all this?” she asked.

“I filed the necessary paperwork so that when we use our emergency building work fund, it will be available,” Ianto replied.

“Okay, why don’t you leave them with me and go home for the day.  I’ll look over them and let you know who my choice is tomorrow afternoon,” Gwen said picking the files up.

“Yes ma’am,” Ianto said and dismissed himself before Gwen could go on.  The Doctor lingered long enough to see her sigh and swear under her breath.

Toshiko stopped what she was doing as they emerged, waiting for Ianto to come and talk to her.  Owen, the Time Lord noticed, wandered down into the autopsy room presumably to give them a little privacy.

“Tosh,” Gwen called from behind him and inwardly he cursed.

The technical genius looked to Ianto with apologetic eyes.  Unseen by the Doctor, the Welshman must have given her a reassuring gesture back because she gave him a small smile.

Ianto didn’t linger, he almost rushed to return to the Tourist Office upstairs.  Once there he went immediately to the computer.

After closing down his files Ianto went into his personal e-mail and began to write.  Over his shoulder the Doctor read first a message to Mr Lloyd, then the estate agents, both confirming that he was interested in the third flat he had been shown yesterday.

The Doctor wanted to object but couldn’t think of a way to phrase it without alienating the young man.  The relief on Ianto’s face as he hit the sent button made him glad that he couldn’t.

When they returned to the Welshman’s house it suddenly felt claustrophobic.  He could see that Ianto was already organising in his mind what he needed to do to move out.

“Can we go out tonight?” the Doctor asked.  Ianto just turned and blinked at him.

“It’s just we seem to spend a lot of time here, I just fancy going out.  I mean what do you usually do after work?”

“I believe you’ve met Captain Jack Harkness,” Ianto answered with fond smile.

“Yes, well, what about before?” he asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“You mean when I was in London?” Ianto asked and the Doctor winced.  The Welshman took pity on him and answered.

“When I was a lot younger I used to go out clubbing.  Mostly, if I wasn’t on a date with Lisa, I used to go down the pub with my mates, friends from work,” Ianto said sadly.

“Oh,” the Doctor said a looked down.  He felt that Ianto had unintentionally become very isolated.

 “Go and freshen up,” Ianto said gently.  “I think I know of somewhere we can go.”

The Doctor hurried into the TARDIS to change.  He decided not just on a new shirt, but a new suit.  When he emerged Ianto was also in a suit and looking at him with approval.

It was quite a long drive though the city and the Doctor was getting hungry then they stopped at a little restaurant for a meal.  Dinner however was not Ianto’s ultimate goal.

They continued to drive after dinner until they reached an old fashioned looking hotel.  The Doctor could hear the music before Ianto ushered them into the ballroom.

Inside people were dancing the waltz.  They were mostly silver haired senior citizens but there were a few younger people there too.

Ianto scanned the room looking for someone.  His eyes were drawn to the loneliest old lady in the room.

“May I have the next dance?” the Welshman asked politely.

The old lady looked him up and down and smiled.

“You’re Bethan Jones’ grandson,” she said.

“Ianto, Mrs Davies,” the Welshman answered.

“Then I know you can back your offer up,” she answered getting slowly up.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“This is John,” Ianto said introducing the Doctor.  “He’s from out of town and he wanted to do something, so I brought him here.”

Mrs Davies looked hard at the Doctor.  The Time Lord favoured her with a smile and hoped it didn’t look too much like a nervous grimace.

The old lady though chuckled.  “You’ll find plenty of ladies willing to dance so I hope you know how to move.”

“Yes Mrs Davies, I know how to dance,” the Doctor replied smiling again.

“I thought so,” she replied leading Ianto towards the dance floor.  “I know she never told you this,” Mrs Davies was saying to her dance partner, “but Bethan always found your taste in eccentric people charming.”  Ianto blushed and didn’t answer as he and the older lady began to dance. 

The Doctor looked down at himself.  _I’ve become one of Ianto Jones’ eccentric people_.  He looked up and the Welshman flashed him a smile he couldn’t help returning.

He looked across the room and saw a couple of silver haired ladies eyeing him up.  Taking a calming breath he wandered over to see which of them fancied a dance


	45. Chapter Forty-five

The music of the dance hall stayed in the Doctor’s brain all the way home.  He put an exhausted but relaxed Ianto to bed and made his way downstairs.

His technique, as he tidied up, was not precisely the one Ianto taught him because he was still dancing.  He did all the jobs Ianto hadn’t had the chance to do because they had gone out plus a few more.

When the Welshman came down the next day, he bounded across the room to meet him.  They danced around until Ianto laughed, then the Time Lord danced the human to his chair and danced away to get breakfast.

The Doctor didn’t see the look of thoughtful concern that crossed Ianto’s face as he turned away.  It was gone when the Time Lord turned back, replaced with a fond smile.

He twitched all the way to the Torchwood Hub and told Ianto all the gossip he’s picked up from his dance partners.  He couldn’t quite believe how much fun he had had.

As a rule he avoided dancing, not because he couldn’t do it, he had great moves, but because he didn’t want any misunderstandings with his young partners.  There was also the fact that modern clubs played music at a level that was really too loud for humans let alone him.

He remembered dancing with Rose and Jack after they saved the Captain from the bomb.  He hadn’t just been a different man then, at the time he’d been happy.

Ianto was a great ballroom dancer, taught by his grandmother.  The Doctor could tell that he had never taken Jack here, his partners would have remembered Jack.  It was a pity because he felt that the Captain would have enjoyed dancing with the senior citizens, with Ianto, as much as he had.

As soon as they entered the Hub and Ianto got them both a tea, the Doctor said.  “So where are these labs with the alien plants?”

The Welshman led them down to an area they hadn’t managed to get to before they found out about the level with the wrong geometry.  It was blinding to go from darkened corridors into a bright lab.

“Good morning,” Ianto called out and the Time Lord realised he was talking to the plants.  “This is the Doctor, he’s come to take a look at you.”

 “Hi,” he said when the Welshman gave him an encouraging smile.

“Don’t worry he’s a little shy.  I’m sorry they’ve been a bit neglected of late.  They are watered automatically and there’s also a timer for the lights.  I feed them and tend them when I can,” the Welshman said going over to them.

He put on a set of gardening gloves and began to inspect them.  There was a second pair and the Doctor did the same.

A few of the species he recognised.  One he was sure wasn’t alien but an extinct plant from the late cretaceous period.  Another, also believed extinct, was alien and extremely valuable.

Ianto talked to the plants as he looked after them.  He told them all his recent news and broke it gently to them that he was going to be going soon but they were soon to have a new, better home.

The Doctor didn’t need to look into the past to know that Ianto always talked to these plants.  He had the feeling that, at the darkest time in his life, when Ianto was caring for Lisa, these plants had been the only ones he could talk to.

Ianto told him everything about each of the plants.  What tests they had performed and what potential was unexplored.  What nutrients and soil each liked and what music.

The Doctor told him what he knew about the plants he recognised and he saw the Welshman taking mental notes.  He examined the plants he didn’t recognise and made mental notes of his own.

It was with some reluctance that the pair of them left the bio lab.  Ianto first went up to make coffee for the others before meeting the Time Lord in the Archives.

They looked at all the artefacts that had been left for Ianto to file.  The Doctor could see the young man doing some mental cataloguing before deciding where to start.

“Can I help you?” the Time Lord asked.

The Doctor felt inordinately pleased when Ianto pulled a second PDA out of his pocket.  A quick examination revealed it was just like the Welshman’s own but programmed for the user ID he’d created for himself.

The two of them began to work together on cataloguing and filing all the items in the room.  The Doctor added information whenever he knew something that might prove useful, edited slightly when he thought it was best.

The Time Lord was so engrossed in what he was going that he didn’t notice the looks of concern that Ianto sent his way every now and then.


	46. Chapter Forty-six

Ianto Jones knew that there was something wrong with the Doctor.

Admittedly he hadn’t known the Time Lord personally for very long, but he was a Torchwood archivist and he knew the file, and a few things not on file.  It was nothing compared to the real thing but it counted for something.

He didn’t know why, but after the night he had taken the Doctor dancing he became aware that something wasn’t right.  Maybe it was the combination of relaxation and basking in the wisdom, sensible and bizarre, of their company that night, but it allowed Ianto to take a mental step back and notice.

Unfortunately his duties meant that the nagging feeling was pushed back to be mulled over whenever he had time to think.  There wasn’t really enough of that at the moment either.

Gwen selected an architect called Karen Johnson to draw up the plans for the level.  She was an excellent choice and Ianto immediately arranged the interview and accommodation for her.

He then began the background checks into the workmen from the company that Johnson favoured.  Only a preliminary back ground check, he saved the in depth checks for after she had agreed to work with them.

During the days between arranging the interview and the interview itself, Ianto worked in the archives.  He also gave the Doctor the rest of the tour around the Hub so that, when the builders were here, he could leave the Time Lord to his own devices.

It was probably an incredibly reckless decision to make given the Time Lords status with Torchwood in the past but he didn’t really care.  It was probably just as well that he was leaving soon.

He was glad that the Doctor came with him and Gwen as they went to interview Johnson though.  He didn’t think he could stand being alone with the Welshwoman, especially when the interview seemed to lapse into a girly chat.

Arrangements were made.  Johnson was going to survey the area with Tosh, draw up the plans and then bring in the work crew and supervise as they changed the level.

The architect was used to working with high security organisations.  She didn’t question the clandestine nature of the interview or the instructions regarding how to enter the Hub.

It was decided that Ianto would also supervise the builders as they worked.  He organised in his mind what was needed and the arrangements required to provide them, and the team with refreshments, lunch and equipment.

In the days while Tosh supervised the architect, Ianto found himself looking around the Hub, at the others, trying to create memories of them.  It was ridiculous given that he was going to be retconed but he couldn’t help the fact that he wanted to, even memories of Gwen.

Perhaps it was the fact that by leaving, quitting, he couldn’t help feeling that he was disappointing Jack.

Ianto knew he was nothing, of the least importance, but Jack had made him feel special.  A look, touch or word could make him soar and not just in the intimacy of the bedroom.  Glances across the Hub, fingers brushing as Ianto handed him something, the way Jack stood close enough to feel his heat and those occasional words of praise, of acknowledgement.  All those little things that made being no one bearable were gone.  He might be nothing but he didn’t deserve to feel like less than that, not when he knew he had once been more.

Tosh tried her best but she didn’t have the presence to be able to do it.  Ironically the Doctor did just by being with Ianto, but the Time Lord didn’t belong here, he wasn’t going to stay.

Soon the weeks began of getting in early to tidy up after the team, letting the builders and Johnson in and escorting them to the level where they would work.  Of finishing late and just having time for dinner with the Doctor before bed.

While he watched the workmen first support the floor then demolish the walls and build new ones, he worked on his ‘How To’ guides and the Staff Handbook.  With not long to go he wanted everything to be up to date.

He also began to compile CVs of suitable replacements.  He was determined, no matter what Owen said, to find one person who could replace him.

The work on the new level was nearly complete on the day when Ianto noticed something wrong with the builders.  He noticed the man among them that didn’t fit and challenge him.

Owen was late arriving to help escort them along to their work and the Doctor had left him to do his own explorations.  He was alone when the man confronted him with a gun, and demanded an artefact from the archives.

At gunpoint Ianto was escorted down to the room where the team had left things for him to put away, after all it was a recent acquisition.

As he entered the room, felt the gun being jabbed into his head, Ianto Jones realised what was wrong with the Doctor.


	47. Chapter Forty-seven

After the first day when he and Ianto had sat wearing hard hats and watching the building crew using huge jacks to support the infrastructure of the Hub, the Doctor decided he couldn’t just sit there.

He had watched as Ianto pulled out his PDA and began to work on one of the programs he had downloaded that morning.  Knowing that he was working on his helpful guides, knowing he was preparing things for when he left made the Doctor feel a little helpless.

The Time Lord would have liked to talk to Ianto but they were never alone and the Welshman watched the work crew as keenly as well as doing his work.   He didn’t really feel he was contributing anything by staying.

Over the weeks that the building work went on he came by, usually at lunch time to see that Ianto was eating.  It didn’t really surprise him to discover that the Welshman knew quite a bit about plumbing and wiring or that he chatted occasionally to the workmen.

On the third morning Ianto had stopped by the room where the others stored the things to be catalogued and archived.  He saw the sigh as the young man decided that it was a job that would wait until the building work was over.

When thinking of something to do, the Time Lord briefly considered just leaving it.  Ianto was bound to make sure that everything was put away before he left and the longer he stayed the more chance there was that he would stay.

Except that the Doctor couldn’t see that happening.  The others were still going out on missions and writing reports and collecting artefacts.

Those that were not gathered up by Ianto and put away after the builders left and before Gwen ordered him home, were being left in the waiting room.  Ianto was also making an effort to get in extra early so that the prisoners were fed, the Hub tidied and that the tea and coffee urns were prepared and the fridge fully stocked for the workers.

Beside which it was no fun exploring on his own.  He didn’t like to hang around the central Hub in case the others realised that, with Ianto in the lower levels, he didn’t belong.

Ianto didn’t see daylight anymore.  If one of the builders needed a break on the surface he would call one of the others down to escort them up.  He arrived before dawn and left after dusk.

His young charge really worried him.  He knew that Tosh thought that giving him something to do to help would make him feel more a part of the team.

Gwen’s decision to have Ianto supervise the workmen alone was only serving to isolate him.  The Welshman did his job with less acknowledgement and less time with the others.

Between keeping an eye on his charges and working on his handy guides, Ianto was really doing twice the work he normally would.  At night the Time Lord was sure the Welshman only ate because he prepared the meals.

He knew that Ianto would feel that, once the work was over, he had to tackle the artefact room.  That meant that the Welshman would be working as long and as hard as he could get away with to clear the room before they started interviewing his successor.

So the Doctor decided to do the archiving for him.  They really were a fascinating collection.  The Torchwood team’s theories and conclusions regarding each item were also interesting to read.

It was quite therapeutic.  He used the time between the monotony to think about his life, the good and the bad without pressure.

He did what he could of Ianto’s job without either the Torchwood team or the Welshman noticing.  It was easy.  The team barely noticed anyway and Ianto was too exhausted.

The young human was so undemanding.  No wanting to see this or that place in history, no wandering off into danger.

Despite the constant worry for Ianto’s wellbeing, the Doctor found himself quiet happy.  The Welshman was a good listener and a good talker with the right encouragement.

It wasn’t fair the way the others treated him but as the Time Lord wasn’t supposed to be there so he couldn’t protest.  Every night as he watched Ianto sleep, peaceful or nightmare ridden, he wanted to change the history he knew.

He wanted to take Ianto away to see the stars, or to let him have the chance to forget everything.  It was his love for Jack that made him resist more than the needs of future history.

It was a shock when he had nearly finished with the artefact room to see Ianto walk in with a gun pointed at his head.  All his efforts to protect the young man and it was in the Hub itself, alone, without him watching, that he had become endangered.

There was horror on Ianto’s face when he saw the empty room.  They had come for something that he had filed it away.

He watched the strange man jab the gun into Ianto’s head.  There was a look of realisation then peace and the Welshman closed his eyes and didn’t answer his attacker’s rant.

The man didn’t notice the Doctor move behind him.  He felt it though when he pinched the nerves that paralyzed the fingers carrying the gun.

Like with that poor unfortunate they had taken to the island in the Bristol Channel, the Time Lord pressed on the nerves that rendered him unconscious.

Ianto turned as he heard the thud of his attacker’s body.  He looked at the Time Lord with surprised eyes.

“You filed everything away,” Ianto half whispered.

“What?” the Doctor said caught off guard by this unexpected comment.

“You filed everything away,” Ianto repeated gesturing the emptiness of the room around him.

“Yes, I just wanted to help and you have some fascinating things here,” the Doctor began but trailed off when Ianto rested a hand on his arm.

“Thank you,” Ianto said quietly.

In his hearts the Doctor knew he wasn’t talking about the rescue.  The Time Lord rescued people all the time and, to Into, his own rescue amongst so many was unimportant.

It was doing the archiving that he was being thanked for.  It was a small gesture to the Time Lord but a big one to Ianto.

“You’re welcome,” the Doctor replied feeling slightly stunned.

Ianto smiled then checked the unconscious man.  Satisfied that he was alright he produced a set of handcuffs and secured the man’s wrists.

“Let’s check to see if the others are alright,” Ianto told him moving away to his workstation and leaving the Time Lord to lock the door behind them.

 


	48. Chapter Forty-eight

The Doctor was not consciously aware of how close he was leaning to Ianto Jones as the Welshman searched the CCTV.  The young man didn’t mind, inwardly he felt a little shaken and was grateful for the Time Lord’s invisible presence.

It was almost a relief to the Doctor to see that Karen Johnson had a gun to Gwen’s head.  He could see the confusion on Ianto’s face that she was in the Hub at all, but at least it didn’t meant that the others simply hadn’t noticed him being hijacked.

The next thing Ianto did was pull up the archiving catalogue to find out what artefact it was that the pair wanted.  The young man felt a little ashamed that his excellent security checks had missed whatever was driving Johnson.

“It’s Sordaniac,” the Doctor said quietly as soon as he saw the item on screen.

“As in the Cult of Sordon?” Ianto asked.

“The what?”

“The Cult of Sordon were dedicated to worshiping the heathen god Sordan in the belief that the truest of followers would gain the usual, power and dominion over all.

“They believed that none of the faithless had any rights but the faithless were too numerous.  They were at the height of their power in the nineteenth century just before William Wilberforce’s series of anti-slavery laws crippled them.

“Many are believed to have fled to America to continue their lifestyle until the civil war.  Some stayed because their sacred artefacts had been hidden, lost during the English civil war and they hoped to find them.

“No wonder my security check revealed nothing.  The Cult existed pre-Torchwood there were no records of the followers.  We only know what I just told you as cult members are born and raised.  It is who she is, there was no deception in her,” Ianto explained.

The Doctor blinked in surprise.

“What?” Ianto asked worried.

“I’m usually the one giving the explanations,” he replied.

“I’m a Torchwood archivist and I only explained about the cult not what the Sordaniac are like,” Ianto said patiently.

“Well they are like their cult interested in power and dominance and they have the technology to do it.  That,” the Time Lord said pointing at the screen, “is not going to give either.  It is exactly what your friends thought it was.”

“It’s an alien hairdryer,” Ianto said nodding.

“Yes and it came in while you were supervising the building works.  She must have seen it, that’s why she is revealing her true colours now,” the Doctor confirmed.

The Welshman then got up startling the Time Lord.  He retrieved a gun from the drawer of his desk and headed for the section where the Sordaniac hairdryer was stored.

“What are you doing?” the Doctor asked.

“She has Gwen hostage.  She obviously expects her partner to come up here with the hairdryer.  If I go up there with it maybe I can distract her long enough to do something,” Ianto said.

“With that?” the Time Lord asked disappointedly indicating the gun.

“It’s a tranquiliser gun.  We’re close to the cells remember?  It’s just in case any of the prisoners escape.  I’m hoping I don’t have to use it,” Ianto replied searching the shelves for the right box.

“What about me?  I’m pretty good in these sort of situations,” the Doctor said and Ianto rounded on him.

“You are staying right here,” Ianto ordered.

“Look I can help,” the Time Lord protested.

“No you can’t.  You’re not meant to be here.  You said if anyone else found out you could risk a temporal paradox.

“If you go out there the others will know, Johnson, however temporarily, will know.  You made me believe that both you and the planet were at stake if anyone found out.

“Did you lie to me?  Is there another reason why you’ve been following me around pretending to be invisible?” Ianto demanded.

He was standing so close to the Doctor that the Time Lord’s back was digging into the shelves but they didn’t touch.  As his hearts beat faster he didn’t know what to feel, what to say to persuade Ianto to let him help.

“No I didn’t lie to you,” the Doctor confessed defeated.

“Then you have to stay here,” Ianto said almost apologetically.

“I could still help I just have to make sure I don’t enter the main Hub,” the Time Lord said as Ianto moved away and retrieved the hairdryer.

“You can’t I’m sorry,” Ianto replied and began to walk away.

“Please...”

The Doctor was stopped as his arm suddenly yanked back.  He looked down to see it handcuffed to one of the shelves.

“I’m sorry,” Ianto said quietly and as the Doctor looked up, he placed the sonic screwdriver on one of the shelves out of his reach.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Ianto promised and then he was gone.

“Damn,” was all the Time Lord could think of to say.

 

 


	49. Chapter forty-nine

Ianto felt a little guilty for tricking the Doctor but he couldn’t let the Time Lord’s altruistic nature get him in to trouble.  He didn’t want to risk the universe.

First he returned to the artefact room to confirm his suspicions that the Cult of Sordan was involved.  He noticed the discarded gun with a curse.  He was getting careless.  Ianto removed the clip and pocketed the weapon before searching his assailant.

There was no useful ID on him but he had the mark that Ianto was expecting to find.  He returned to his workstation at a run, he locked the gun away as the computer brought up the cult’s file.

He skipped to what he needed to know and then pulled up the central Hub’s CCTV while he made his preparations.

“We told you they’re a huge maze he could take ages,” Owen said reasonable.

“He’d better not,” Johnson said causing Gwen to yelp as the gun was jabbed into her head.

There was no time left so Ianto had to hope that what he’d done would be enough.  Grabbing the alien hairdryer he raced up to the main Hub.

Ianto slowed down so that he could catch his breath.  Then he opened his awareness, he needed every edge he could get.

“Look there’s no way you can get away with this.  This is a high security establishment you won’t be able to get out,” Gwen said trying to be reasonable.

“Yes we will.   When we have our birthright you won’t be able to stop us,” Johnson said with a snarl.

Ianto coughed politely as he stepped into view causing everyone to turn to him.

“Where’s Simmons?” Johnson demanded when it was evident that Ianto was alone.

“The Audlar is waiting in the Car.  I showed him a way out.  He sent me with our birthright as proof of our success,” Ianto said his eyes looking more at the hairdryer he was holding than Johnson as he walked towards her.

“You are of the holy?” she asked in disbelief.

“A humble Cordain,” Ianto replied raising his shirt and revealing the symbol he had hastily drawn on his stomach.

“You are unarmed,” she asked.

“I do not have the authority here to carry a gun and the Audlar had no wish to trust one whose lineage he did not know,” Ianto replied and Johnson nodded.

“What are you doing here amongst these?  Why did you not retrieve our heritage yourself?” she asked and he moved closer, her eyes now looking solely at the hairdryer.

“They brought it in whilst I oversaw the slave caste, I did not know of its presence.  As for my place here, I thought where better to look than within the enemy stronghold.  For my offspring to advance I must risk all,” Ianto replied stopping a few feet away from Johnson and Gwen.

The architect reached out for the hairdryer but Ianto pulled back.  She looked up at him to see suspicion in his eyes.

With a growl of frustration she stepped out from behind Gwen though the gun remained trained to the Welshwoman’s head.  With her free hand she lifted up her blouse to reveal a tattoo.

“Forgive me Seradana,” Ianto said bowing his head.  “With our sacred inheritance at stake I had to be cautious.”

She waved off his apologies and stepped forward to take the artefact with both hands, not caring that one still had a gun.  She was caressing it lovingly when a frown marred Johnson’s face.

“What’s that?” she asked staring at Ianto’s shirt.

She looked up in surprise at the sound of the tranquiliser gun.  Ianto took the hairdryer from her as he sank wordlessly to the ground.

“Magic marker,” the Welshman answered.

Ianto put the hairdryer on the nearest desk then checked Johnson’s pulse.  He then went over to Gwen who was staring at the unconscious architect in shock.

“Are you all right ma’am?” he asked softly.  Gwen nodded not really looking at him.

“I’ll just take her down to the cells and put the hairdryer back.  I’ll then lock her partner away and see to the work crew, they were locked in the garage.  I think they should probably be given today off and double pay for their troubles today?” Ianto asked.

“Sure Ianto,” Gwen said dazed.

“Tosh I was going to give the work men some tea and coffee from the urns downstairs before they leave would you mind...”

“Of course Ianto,” Tosh said and headed down to get Gwen a cup of tea.

The Welshman bent down and lifted Johnson onto his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.  He then picked up the hairdryer and made his way to the cells.

Owen checked Gwen over while they waited to Tosh to bring the tea.  As soon as the technical genius arrived he headed off after Ianto.

 

 


	50. Chapter Fifty

As soon as Ianto disappeared from view the Doctor began to raid him pockets.  It might take longer without the screwdriver but he was determined to undo the cuffs.

He could hear Ianto running to the artefact room and then back to his workstation a few minutes later.  It wasn’t dithering the Welshman definitely had a plan.

He really should have known better.  For the first time since he got here the Doctor saw a glimpse of the man he knew Ianto would be.  The same thing drew him out, protectiveness of others.

For a moment the Time Lord faltered in his search.  He knew Ianto was going to sacrifice himself for Jack in the year that never would be, but was that sacrifice for him too.

_You filed everything away... thank you._

There had been no hint that Ianto knew him but the Welshman was smart enough to work out where his current companion had come from.  Smart enough to know and not let on to a man who hadn’t met him yet.

“For Jack, he’ll do it for Jack,” the Doctor whispered to himself as he began to search through his pockets again.

 _He loves Jack, I’m just visiting._   The Time Lord knew he wasn’t convincing anybody.  Jack was a large part of Ianto’s motivation but he could see now there had been a gift for him too.

“Aha,” the Doctor exclaimed as he withdrew a safety pin from his pocket.  “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

The sound of voices made the Time Lord look up.  It took him a moment to realise that it was the feed from the CCTV before he heard Ianto leave.

He concentrated on manipulating the pin in the lock.  It was something he’d become quite practiced at over the centuries.

The sound of Ianto’s quiet cough made him freeze.  The Welshman had left the security feed on and the Doctor could hear the drama unfolding.

It was with a mixture of worry, surprise and admiration that he listened.  The Time Lord had had to bluff his way thought many situations and Ianto couldn’t have had more than ten minutes to come up with this plan.

Even being only able to hear Ianto he was quite convincing.  He had the Doctor half doubting himself right until the point where heard the sound of the tranquiliser gun being fired.

 _“Are you alright ma’am?”_ There was no reply but Ianto continued to talk so he assumed the ex-PC nodded.

That made the Doctor’s hearts soar with a mixture of relief and pride.  Despite how Gwen had treated him he still had to make sure she was okay.

It was Ianto’s plan that turned the Time Lord’s attention back to his own situation.  With a couple of twists the steel bracelet snapped open.

He ran to his sonic screwdriver, picked it up and kissed it before putting it back in his pocket.  The Time Lord headed for Ianto’s work station and turned off the CCTV images.

He caught up with Ianto as he arrived at the artefact room.  The Welshman was out of breath from running, presumably to reach and free him.

The Doctor didn’t care.  He just enveloped the Welshman in a huge hug, pulled back to look him over and then hugged him again.

“I’m sorry,” Ianto whispered.

“It’s alright, alright,” the Time Lord whispered back.

He rubbed a hand up and down the Welshman’s back.  He felt the slight tremble as the adrenaline faded; felt Ianto respond to the comfort he was projecting and realised the young man was using his awareness.

The Doctor was suddenly acutely aware of how close he was to Ianto.  Aware of how much he didn’t care.

“Ianto,” Owen’s voice called out and the Welshman instantly stepped back, mask falling automatically into place.

The Doctor took the alien hairdryer from him and said.  “I’ll put this away for you.”  He then turned and dashed out of sight before Owen appeared.

When he returned to them, they were in the cells.  Owen was checking the vitals of the architect, Johnson and gently asking Ianto what he knew about the Cult of Sordan.

The Time Lord could tell he wasn’t just curious he was checking how Ianto was doing without letting on.  This theory was confirmed when Owen went with Ianto as he transported the tea and coffee urns from the building site to the garage.

“So what was Johnson doing in the main Hub?” Ianto asked after a prompting from his invisible friend.

“Gwen was thinking about doing up the Hub,” Owen answered.

“She was going to redecorate,” Ianto said aghast.

“Not anymore,” the medic replied with a slight smile.

As soon as Ianto appeared in the garage, he was surrounded by builders asking how he was and what happened.  Ianto handed them all tea and coffee, he knew all their names to as he answered their questions with as much truth as he could.

He then told them that they would all be having the rest of the day off and double pay for today for their trouble.  This was met with great enthusiasm but they all hesitated.

“What about you?” the foreman asked having been nominated as spokesperson by the others looks.

“Me?” Ianto asked confused.

“You’re the one who had a gun to his head.  Don’t you get the rest of the day off to recover?” he asked then looked over the Ianto’s shoulder.

Ianto, the Doctor and Owen all turned to see Tosh and Gwen standing there.  There was a look of proud amusement on the technical genius’ face and slight bewilderment on the ex-PC.

“Of course he will,” Gwen said as she was surrounded by expectant faces.

“Great,” the foreman said. “We reckon you need something a bit stronger that tea after that,” the foreman said as Ianto was steered towards the entrance and opened the door for them.

To the amusement of the Doctor, Tosh and Owen and the shock of Gwen a, bemused Ianto was surrounded by builders and swept away by them towards the nearest pub.


	51. Chapter Fifty-one

The Doctor had a great deal of experience with heroic rescues.  He was forever getting companions, himself and people he had just met out of jail, the clutches of kidnappers or a boring normal life.

He knew before he started that this rescue was doomed to failure.

Ianto Jones was half way through his first pint, despite it being a bit early, before the Time Lord caught up with him.  He was surrounded by the builders and the foreman was spinning an elaborate tale about a previous government job.

The building crew bought round after round, then lunch, more pints, dinner and more pints.  Ianto wasn’t allowed to buy a round of his own and was always escorted to and back from the toilet by someone eager to talk.

The Welshman had a small group of admirers who played musical chairs regarding who would sit next to him.  There was an older man, a young woman and two younger men, one of whom didn’t say anything unless Ianto asked and then stammered to answer while blushing furiously.

Toshiko and Owen turned up just before dinner.  They watched with amusement how much Ianto was the centre of attention while giving his own to whoever was speaking.

However as soon as they were spotted they were asked to join them and Tosh soon had a crown of admirers of her own.  Owen stuck to lemonade after a pint, having nominated himself as designated driver.

It was Owen that extracted both his team mates at eleven o’clock and drove them home.  The Doctor returned to the Millennium Centre, collected Ianto’s car and drove it back to the Welshman’s house.

Then the Doctor entered he could hear Ianto talking.  He followed the voice into the lounge and stopped.

Ianto was sat on the floor leaning against the side of the TARDIS.  He had an almost empty pint glass of water in one hand and with the other he was caressing the TARDIS in an intimate way that rather fit with his story.

The Time Lord coughed making Ianto look up.

“Hey,” the Welshman said with a little wave of his glass.  “I was just telling her about my first time with Jack,” he added drinking the last of his water.

“I could tell,” the Doctor said crouching down beside him.

“She asked,” Ianto said defensively then leaned closer.  “I don’t think she approves of me,” he added in a loud conspiratorial whisper and the Time Lord felt momentary alarm coming from his ship.

“I don’t think it’s you she disapproves of,” the Doctor said concerned.

“But everybody loves Jack and Jack loves everybody.  Except cannibals, they shouldn’t try to eat his team, tenderise and bleed them,” the Welshman answered suddenly staring at nothing in horror.

“Hey,” the Doctor shouted getting the young man’s attention back.  “You’re safe, you’re home and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“But you can’t stay here forever.  Time thingies,” Ianto said trying to drink from an empty glass.

“Would you like me to get you another?” the Doctor asked feeling uncomfortable with the truth of Ianto’s statement.

“Yes please,” the young man answered handing the glass over.  “Do you want to know the ironic thing about Jack?” he called to the Time Lord’s retreating back.

“I didn’t know he was immortal but I knew he wouldn’t die when he left me.  I always knew he would leave me for someone better.  I’m glad it wasn’t Gwen.”

The Doctor suddenly felt very humble.  Then he wondered why his hand felt wet and realised he’d let the glass overflow.

He turned the tap off, emptied the glass a little then dried the outside and his hand before returning to the Welshman.  Ianto took the glass quietly, tears running down his face.

“I can’t seem to stop crying.  Perhaps it’s a good thing Jack left before he found out what a misery I am,” Ianto told him before taking a sip of water.

“You’re unhappy because he left you remember,” the Doctor said gently brushing the tears away.  Ianto didn’t reply he just sipped more water.

“Why don’t you continue with your story and I’ll see if I can find something that will prevent you from having a terrible hangover in the morning,” the Doctor asked.

“Okay, where was I?” the Welshman asked.

“Something about a massage,” the Time Lord said quickly getting up.

“Jack has good fingers for massaging.  They know how to push hard and get all the kinks out and when to be gentle,” Ianto said dreamily as the Doctor hastily retreated into his TARDIS.

His ship had the contented smugness of a cat.  He could tell now that Ianto wasn’t just touching his ship with his fingers but his rogue psychic senses as well.

“You know we can’t keep him,” the Time Lord said apologising as he left the TARDIS with the required medication.

Ianto didn’t notice and was still telling his story as the Doctor dashed to the kitchen.  There were some things he didn’t want to hear.

He filled another glass with water and let the powder dissolve in it.  He waited until Ianto came to the end of his tale before returning with the glass.

“Should I be drinking this?” Ianto asked as he took the drink.

“Don’t worry it’ll just add to your mystic,” the Time Lord replied blithely.

The Welshman downed it in one earning a surprised look from his companion.  Ianto looked uncertain as though he had been expecting it to taste awful when instead it tasted of apricots.

“I think we should get you to bed,” the Time Lord said helping Ianto up.

“Why do I need mystic?  Who am I mysticking for?  It’s a bit late to mystic for Jack he’s gone.  I had nothing to keep him with, why should I need mystic?” Ianto asked as they made their way up the stairs.

“Nonsense you have plenty of attributes.  You’re intelligent, beautiful, compassionate, brave and witty.  What’s Jack not going to love about that?” the Doctor asked as they reached the landing.

“Beautiful?” Ianto asked as they reached the bedroom.

“Yes beautiful,” the Time Lord replied.

“Really,” Ianto said turning more towards him.

Suddenly the Doctor was aware that Ianto was leaning closer.  There were two luminous blue orbs staring like headlights in his eyes.

He felt a surge of panic unable to move or say anything as they got closer, as he felt Ianto’s alcohol fumed breath on his face, aware of lips closing in.

Suddenly the Doctor staggered back under the weight of an unconscious Welshman.  The headlights were gone and it took him a few moments to catch his breath.

The Time Lord launched into a story about the most boring dinner party he’s ever been to.  He knew Ianto couldn’t hear, but he suddenly felt awkward about getting the young man ready for bed.

“It was hosted by the silent monks of Necert III.  I’d just saved them from a Vortalic attack and they gathered around me until I accepted that I was being sat at a banquet in my honour.

“Really terrible party, they weren’t just silent they had no music and so there was no after dinner dancing.  As for the food it was so bland, no condiments or anything, and all they drank was water.

“But they were grateful that I has saved them and they all wore such beautiful rare smiles.  A bit like yours,” the Doctor said lying on the bed propped up by his elbow facing the Welshman.

He gently brushed a lock of hair away before bending down and kissing Ianto’s forehead.

“You don’t need a silly old Time Lord to tell you you’re beautiful and you don’t need Captain Jack Harkness to either.  You had what, four admirers today and there was that estate agent, Simon, though I’m not sure he counts as that might have been part of his sales patter.

“Anyway, I’m going to tell you something that I rarely ever say and while there are many factors that might not agree with this statement in essence it’s true.

“You’re wrong Ianto Jones.  Jack didn’t leave you because he thought he found someone better.  He left me because he knew he had someone better.”

Ianto suddenly shifted catching the Time Lord off guard.  The Welshman wrapped an arm around him and brought his head to rest on the Doctor’s chest.

“Jack,” he murmured and the Doctor relaxed.

He looked down to see a smile on the sleeping man’s face and he no longer had the hearts to dislodge him.


	52. Chapter Fifty-two

When Ianto got up, an hour later than usual, he made himself a cup of coffee.  It was the first one the Doctor had seen him make for himself.

He wondered at first if it was just habit after getting drunk but he didn’t grimace or look nauseous as he had the last few times he’d accidently made coffee.  Indeed he had a very blissful look on his face as he inhaled its vapours.

That made the Doctor worry that perhaps Ianto had transferred some of his affections from Jack to him.  Yet as he watched carefully there was no sign of that.

Ianto did however seem a little disorientated.  He was cautious and slightly surprised as though something was out of place.  _Perhaps the coffee is a comfort food._

It took the Time Lord a while to realise that Ianto was expecting to have a headache, nausea and sensitivity to light, all the usual things you got with a hangover.  Thanks to the powder he gave the Welshman he was not going to experience any of it.

“I’m sorry about last night.  I don’t usually get that drunk.  Thank you for getting me home,” Ianto said just before he was ready to leave.

“I didn’t get you home Owen did.  Don’t you remember?” the Time Lord asked watching carefully.

“I remember Owen and Tosh turning up and dinner.  It’s all blurred after that.  I take it you are responsible for me not having a hangover.  I didn’t do anything did I?” Ianto asked worried.

“You had fun, Owen drove you home, I drove your car here, you had a little talk with me and the TARDIS, you drank water, I gave you something for this morning and I got you to bed after you passed out,” the Time Lord told him.

“Thank you.  Was it wise giving me something for my head?  I work of an organisation that hunts aliens, won’t it be suspicious if I’m not hung over this morning?” Ianto asked and the Doctor smiled.

“You asked that last night.  I told you it would enhance your mystic.”

“What do I need mystic for?”

“You don’t need mystic you exude it naturally,” the Time Lord told him.

“I guess I asked that question last night too.  How many hours after I passed out did it take you to come up with that one?” the Welshman asked with a smile on his face.

“A couple,” the Doctor replied looking sheepish.

Ianto chuckled and headed out the door.  The Time Lord followed him automatically.

Their route to the Hub was via the local supermarket and several bakeries.  Ianto bought fruit, fruit juice, pasties and pastries to compliment his tea and coffee as well as the ingredients to what the Doctor realised was Ianto’s own hangover cure.

He mixed up the hangover juice while he made tea and coffee and put it in the urns for the builders.  He set them all up in the empty space that was going to be the new board room.

Nothing had been said about the workmen having the day off today so Ianto had obviously decided to give them a little extra time to recover.  He took a selection of the pastries and pasties as well as one glass of his hangover juice for Tosh up to the main Hub.

He greeted the team with these items before going down to see to the work force.  They all looked a little worse for wear but perked up considerably when they realised what Ianto had prepared for them.

They sat together in the empty board room and talked while they drank and ate until the foreman decided that it was time for them to get back to work.

The builders were working faster and more efficiently than before and they all went to talk to Ianto while they were on their breaks.  Far from being irritated the Welshman seemed to be quite happy with the distractions.

“I think you’ve made some friends for life with this lot,” the Doctor said as he watched a couple of plasterers leave the room.

“It’s a pity then that they won’t remember me,” Ianto said quietly.

“What?” the Time Lord said confused.

“I thought you realised.  They all have to be retconned, given an amnesia drug to make them forget they have ever been here.  I will plant evidence that they have been in Carlisle doing a government job and that is what they will believe,” Ianto replied then added to the Doctor’s aghast look.

“You know that it isn’t always aliens that are dangerous, humans can be terrible as well.  This way not only is there no chance of them betraying us but they cannot be harmed by someone trying to force them to betray us.  No one will be able to connect us.”

“Very noble I’m sure but a drug like that can be open to abuse,” the Time Lord said concerned.

“Indeed I could give young George,” Ianto said indicating his shy admirer, “the happiest night of his life knowing that there will be no consequences to me, knowing that he will not remember but I wouldn’t even if I wasn’t still a heartbroken mess.

“There would be consequences to him too.  Ones that could hurt him while protecting me ones that I have to remember.

“The use of Retcon is very strictly regulated and there are equally strict rules for its use.  That doesn’t mean that we fallible humans are not open to temptation.

“It’s just the same with every other moral choice.  We hope the rules are sufficient guidelines and have to trust that we make the right decisions and live with the wrong ones,” Ianto said quietly.

“You’re speaking from experience?” the Doctor asked uncertain.

“There’s a night that neither Jack nor I remember.  I know we had sex and I know we woke up together.  Jack was holding me tight to him so I cannot imagine what was so bad. 

“I don’t know which of us did it.  I think it was me and I think Jack thinks it was him.  It made us wary of each other a little.  We were going to talk about it the night Jack and Tosh got sent back to 1941.

“Jack... Jack met someone there.  He was a hero destined to die the next day.  Jack well he...”

“Fell for him?” the Time Lord asked quietly.  He already knew the outcome of this story from overhearing Ianto’s conversation with Tosh.  Ianto nodded.

“You don’t think...” the Doctor couldn’t bring himself to ask but Ianto shook his head.

“Not Jack’s way and I was in love with him.  I know Jack would have been hurting because Owen was in hospital but he wouldn’t take his pain out on me.  I would have willingly given him whatever comfort he wanted,” Ianto replied and the Time Lord felt relieved.  Not that he believed Jack capable of forcing anyone, but he didn’t want the Welshman to think that.

They lapsed into silence and the Doctor began mentally kicking himself.  Ianto had been content before he started this conversation and now he was down again.

He really wasn’t very good at this.  He had to try though.  He had a promise to fulfil and time to preserve.


	53. Chapter Fifty-three

The rest of the building work was completed without a hitch.  The builders were taken to Carlisle and retconned by Owen.

Ianto was sad to see them go, so Tosh took him out to dinner.  She then stayed the night but slept alone in Ianto’s bed while he took the couch downstairs as he felt a little awkward sharing, despite having done so before.

Johnson the architect was interrogated by Gwen and Owen before also being retconned and dumped in Carlisle.  Her accomplice Simmons was also interrogated and dumped but this time in Peterborough.

All the information about the cult from the interrogations were recorded and stored in the archives.  Warnings about Johnson and Simmons being members of the Cult of Sordan were passed on to UNIT.

Tosh and Ianto then began work on fixing up the board room and the other new rooms on that level.  The two worked well together and they played word games as they worked.

There was a distinct change in Ianto since the hold up.  It was as though getting drunk one night had released some sort of inner tension.  Apart from the occasional reminder is mood seemed good.

It wasn’t just the Welshman that blossomed though.  Toshiko did as all Ianto’s ‘make you feel good’ charm was directed at her in friendship.

Yet every time one of the others came in he was his cold professional self.  Owen seemed to take the change in his stride but Gwen obviously felt hurt by this.

Not long after the first time Ianto went professional in the company of the others, the Doctor realised that he wasn’t the only one watching the two of them work.  Gwen, he noticed was also taking an interest in the Welshman.

One day while Ianto and Tosh were hard at work he snuck into Jack’s office to watch the ex-PC.  She was on the computer checking up on everything the Archivist did.

Whenever not working on a case, she was checking his workload, his handbooks and guides, though she swiftly gave up on those, and his weekly reports.  She checked his duties and his research reports.

The weekly reports were something she focused on obsessively.  It wasn’t until she got out a file and began comparing them that the Time Lord understood why.

Jack had obviously asked both Gwen and Ianto to compose weekly reports.  Reading them both after the team had been called out, the Time Lord realised that Gwen’s report were team (excluding Ianto) focused, what they did and their morale.  While Ianto’s included all Hub activity, experiment and work progress updates, information on the naturalised alien population, suspicious activity and anything of interest coming up in Cardiff’s calendar.

The Time Lord realised that Gwen didn’t know Ianto wrote reports, well possibly ones of the state of the archiving but not on the whole team, all Hub activity.  It was obvious that Gwen and Ianto’s reports were supposed to be similar but even when it came to the team there were things Ianto saw and the police woman missed.

The Doctor was starting to worry.  Gwen didn’t need much of an excuse to get rid of Ianto now this small unknown piece of rivalry would add to it.

There was one report that was conspicuously absent.  He tried all the desk draws and found it in the only unlocked one, Ianto’s report on his relationship with Jack, still sealed.

The report remained untouched every time the Doctor watched Gwen.   She progressed from reading reports to watching Ianto on the CCTV both old and new footage.

He wondered if he should warn the Welshman but the fact that Ianto no longer spoke to him while they were in the Hub unless they were in a camera blind spot, told him that the young man already knew.

Two weeks after the builders left the new board room, labs and store rooms were ready.  Tosh took the lead in giving Gwen and Owen a grand tour.

They left the new board room for last.  Gwen’s features lit up in delight as she looked at it.

“Wow,” she said taking a look at the screens and the little sculptures in the middle of the table.

“There’s even a coffee machine and mini kitchen so that we can have hot drinks and snacks,” Tosh said showing them the little hidden area that had been Ianto’s idea.

“The two of you have done such a good job,” Gwen said and she meant it.  Tosh smile shyly.

“Thank you ma’am,” Ianto said with a nod of his head.  “If you will excuse me I have been neglecting the archives.  I will e-mail you the CV’s,” he added and with a nod to Tosh and Owen he left.

Gwen waited until he could no longer be seen though the glass doors and swore.


	54. Chapter Fifty-four

Behind Gwen, Tosh and Owen exchanged looks.

“Something the matter,” Owen asked innocently.

“I’ve screwed up haven’t I?” Gwen confessed as she slumped down in one of the board room chairs.

“Have you?” the medic asked still sounding innocent as he and Tosh slid into the chairs opposite her.

“You know I have.  You’d think I’d know better.  Captain Swanky-Pants Harkness, aliens and super tech and I forget all about the fundamentals of how a police station is run.

“It isn’t the chief constable who runs the station or the supers and chief inspectors.  It’s the sergeant who knows everything and everyone, from PACE to all the regulars.

 “The sergeant who knows how to talk to the brass to make them think they’re in charge and how to talk to the PC’s so they know the Sarg’s in control.  The one who knows how to give praise and knows when to burst the bubble.

“That’s Ianto isn’t it?  He’s quieter and more polite than your average sergeant but that’s him.  The one who really makes things run,” Gwen asked the other two.

“Funny that isn’t it.  He’s only been here a month or so longer than you.  He has that one thing we lack, well Jack, Susie and I lacked,” Owen said with an apologetic glance at Tosh, “and that’s organisational skills.”

“He introduced new forms for our write ups, new procedures and handles all the admin work.  I swear I only do a twentieth of the paperwork I used to.  Gives me more time for projects,” Owen added.

“And computer games and porn,” Tosh said with a smile.

“Did you know he writes weekly reports on all of us?   Jack asked me to write the team progress reports,” Gwen said feeling hurt.

“Well you can blame Susie for that one,” Owen said breezily.

“She and Jack got into a huge argument,” Tosh explained at the ex-PC’s confused look.  “She made an accusation about Ianto quite similar to the one you made.  Jack was livid.”

“For a week Jack didn’t flirt or make suggestive remarks at anyone.  He went all broody and boss man on us,” Owen continued.  “After that he started being himself with the rest of us, but he and Ianto still danced around each other.

“They wouldn’t stand within three feet of each other if they could help it.  Ianto treated Jack with that professionalism that he treats the rest of us with.  Jack would also go out before the rest of us left and wouldn’t return until Ianto had left.”

“That made him so cranky,” Tosh said remembering.

“Jack’s leaving while Ianto tidied up only lasted two weeks.  You could tell they started talking and flirting in private by how much calmer Jack was.

“When Jack told you Ianto looked good in a suit, it was one of the first bits of public flirting they had done since the argument,” Owen explained.

“Charming story but what has that to do with the weekly reports?” Gwen demanded.

“The Monday after the argument the weekly reports show up on Susie and Jack’s desk.  Not just the one for that week but for all the weeks since Ianto had been here,” Tosh said quietly.

“Either he had them prepared already or he spent all weekend on them,” Owen sniped.  “Either way reading them made Susie apologise.  It also gave Ianto an excuse to visit Jack in his office and that’s something Jack would never purposefully stop.”

“But there’s stuff about us in there, like he’s been spying,” Gwen hissed at him in a manner that made the Doctor believe it was personal.  Owen just shrugged.

“It’s the über-butler’s job to make sure his master doesn’t drop a clanger,” Owen said.  “He only says things that are common knowledge and he only hints at the things that aren’t.”

“I liked the fact that Jack remembered my birthday,” Tosh said.

“And that no one remembered mine,” Owen added.

“I loved the Christmas presents Ianto chose from Jack,” Tosh stated.

“Yeah mine didn’t last that long.  I think he dropped the ball with me, but that’s what having a fantastic sex life can do for you,” Owen said philosophically.

Gwen looked confused.  Like she’d been lied to by someone she trusted and was only just finding out.  Like she’d made assumptions and no one had corrected her until she felt their betrayal.

“Tosh will to talk to Ianto?  Try and reason with him,” Gwen asked.

“No,” the technical genius replied.

“No?  Don’t you want him to stay?” she demanded.

“Of course I want him to stay but he asked me not to try and persuade him and I intend to keep that promise.  I don’t want him to shut me out too,” Tosh told her drawing herself up defiantly.

“Don’t look at me Gwen, he aint gonna to listen to me,” Owen said before she opened her mouth. 

“Besides we didn’t attack him, call him a whore and make him feel like he wasn’t entitled to a private life, that he was Torchwood’s slave,” Toshiko said coldly.

“He’s been through a lot Gwen,” Owen said quietly.  “You saw what that ex-London bastard did to the Treily.  Canary Wharf was like that, only I can’t imagine how much worse it was living through that and not just seeing the aftermath.

“The battle, Lisa, everyday Torchwood and Jack, Ianto had survived them all and stayed surprisingly sane.  You’re the one who’s finally broken him, you’re the one who needs to fix this before it’s too late,” Owen told her.

With that he and Tosh got up from the board room table and swanned out the door.  As she was left alone with an invisible witness, Gwen banged her head upon the wood before her and swore again.

 

 


	55. Chapter Fifty-five

Gwen Cooper’s ‘Keep Ianto in Torchwood’ campaign did not really get off to a good start.  She began it with a full charm offensive.

She praised his worked, said thank you whenever he got her anything, she smiled and flirted and looked at him with those huge expressive eyes of hers.

The praise was met with confusion, the thanks with a simple ‘you’re welcome’ and the rest with stony professionalism.  Two days after the charm campaign began, Ianto asked her if she’d managed to look at the CV’s he’d sent her so that he could start arranging interviews.

The Doctor smiled to himself.  Gwen was an attractive woman, obviously used to being popular and one of the best looking people in the room.  Most men, he reflected, would have been eating out of the palm of her hand.

“Charm didn’t really work for Jack either,” Owen commented after Ianto asked about the CV’s.

Gwen’s recent actions had obviously hurt the Welshman deeply as he was unable to react to her.  It didn’t really help the ex-PC’s mood that Ianto was quiet happy to flirt and laugh with Tosh, and even be a little friendly with Owen.

“I’ve looked over the CV’s but I’m afraid that none of them are up the standard we need,” Gwen told Ianto with a smile an hour later.

The Doctor could tell that Gwen meant it as a compliment.  That she was trying to tell Ianto that none of them measured up to him.

“I’ll do some more looking,” Ianto replied dismissing himself, and missing her attempt to flatter his ego entirely.

Gwen began to compile a file on Ianto to try and find something to persuade him to stay.  It wasn’t a big file as she didn’t know him that well, and all her subsequent attempts to rectify that were as successful as her charm campaign.

It did not go unnoticed that the one thing Gwen hadn’t done was try to apologise.

The Doctor knew what it was like to be irrational and young.  He remembered the days when he always thought he was right and rarely said he was sorry.

Now he knew he was fallible.  He knew that as hard as he tried he couldn’t always save everyone.  He knew that one of him was all there was, and it was not enough.

The last of the Time Lords knew regret and redemption.  They weren’t natural things to his people, not with their great technological arrogance.  Oh he could be just as guilty of arrogance as they, but he had also learn when to be humble, when to say sorry because that was all that could be done.

That was why it was so important to give everyone a chance.  Daleks, Cybermen and ex-PC’s who weren’t thinking straight, they all deserved a chance to change.

The problem was that Gwen Cooper was making a mess of her chance.  She knew that she had to apologise but she couldn’t.

Gwen still hadn’t quite gotten over the fact that Jack had left, hadn’t given up her little fantasy that her being in Torchwood had made Jack’s life better.  Maybe she had when she started, maybe she had reminded Jack of what it was to be human.

There were some things though that Ianto understood that Gwen, and the others hopefully, never would.  It was an understanding Jack needed, one they shared because, at the time, there was no one else.  It was that understanding, more than the sex, that made their friendship special.

The Doctor, Jack and Ianto all knew what it was to survive great tragedy.  What it was to see so much death and violence.

In one day Ianto Jones had lost a great deal of his innocence, he had had his arrogance humbled, his youth tarnished.  He knew of the darkness in the universe, and he fought against it with his understanding, compassion and gentility.

It made Ianto Jones’ perspective unique.  It made him different from the others, and made him exactly what they needed.  Gwen was the only one not yet able to see it.

The Doctor could see worry in the ex-PC’s eyes when Ianto gave her a request for leave so that he could move.  She asked why he was moving and the Welshman told her his house held to many memories of Jack.  A truth and a lie but she granted his request.

At night Ianto was packing everything away.  There was no chaos in him only neat, efficient order almost as though he’d done it before.

He hesitated in the kitchen when putting the plates into a box.  The Time Lord could tell it was sparking a memory of Jack but felt reluctant to intrude this time, not after getting caught.

Ianto left four sets of cutlery and crockery out as well as a selection of clothes and toiletries.  Everything else was gone making the house seem bare and cold.

The moving date was still a few weeks away so it seemed premature but Ianto seemed to want little and would take the Time Lord out whenever he felt they needed entertaining.

The Doctor could almost feel Ianto mentally ticking days off.  There was also an excitement that the moving preparations brought in the Welshman that no one wanted to dampen.

Yet every day the whole Torchwood team were mentally ticking off how little time they had to convince Ianto to stay.  Owen complained to Tosh that they should make Gwen apologise, but the technical genius knew that it had to be genuine or it would never be accepted.

In the end it was the Rift that intervened.


	56. Chapter Fifty-six

“Ianto arm yourself and meet us at the SUV,” Gwen’s voice called over the comms.

The Welshman’s PDA had alerted him to the Rift Alarm going off, but he hadn’t reacted.  Since the Doctor had been there the team always went out without letting Ianto know.

Immediately the young man headed back to his desk.  He put the artefact he was handling on it and grabbed his stun gun and put it in his pocket.

He headed for the armoury next and retrieved his sidearm and holster and ran, carrying them, to the SUV.  The Doctor didn’t approve but he knew the Welshman couldn’t disobey Gwen’s order.

The Time Lord barely had time to scramble in the back between Ianto and Toshiko before Owen sped off.

“Ten minutes ago the rift alarm sounded.  Two unknown aliens appeared on St Mary’s Street,” Tosh began.

“Somehow nobody noticed,” Owen said sarcastically.

“They’ve split up one is heading towards Turnmill nuclear power plant and the other is heading in the direction of the Hub.  They’re both heavily armed,” Tosh continued.

On the screen in front of Ianto, CCTV footage began to play.  It showed two tall men in dark green leather clothes.

Their skin seemed orange compared to that of the people around them, but that could have been the camera quality.  They moved purposefully but they seemed almost neurotic about avoiding contact with anybody.

“So what’s the plan?” Owen asked as he drove towards the alien headed to the Hub.

“Owen, you and Tosh are going to head after the one going to Turnmill.  You can drop Ianto and me off so that we can intercept the other,” Gwen answered checking her gun.

The look exchanged via the mirror between Toshiko and Owen was not missed by the Welshwoman.

“Look we don’t know if they’re heading to the power plant for fuel, curiosity or to blow it up,” Gwen continued.  “Either way if he gets there before you reach him, Tosh is the best person to deal with anything related to Turnmill.

“If the other one is heading to the Hub it could be after the Rift Manipulator or an artefact or fuel like its partner.  Ianto know the Hub the best, he can figure out if we have what it wants, or the best way to keep the alien from getting it.

“Of course we can’t be sure it’s our base he’s after.  It is built in the middle of a busy tourist area,” Gwen finished slightly frustrated.

“Yes they might be lost and in need of directions,” Owen said sarcastically.

“That’s okay I’m good with tourists,” Ianto deadpanned.

“I didn’t mean that,” Gwen said, torn between sharing the unexpected joke and feeling her authority being diminished.

“We know what you meant.  At the moment your crowd control skills might be more useful than my medical ones,” Owen answered with a reassuring smile.

They were silent now apart from Toshiko calling directions to the first drop off.  Ianto retrieved a back pack from the boot of the SUV while the Doctor slipped out unseen.

Ianto clipped the bag in place as Owen pulled away and pulled his PDA out to look for the alien.

“Which way?” Gwen asked impatiently.

The scream sounded before Ianto could answer.  The Welshman ran towards it with Gwen and the Doctor on his heels.

For someone who spent most of his day in the depths of the Hub, the Welshman had a surprising turn of speed.  The Doctor just had time to admire this before they reached their destination.

They all pulled up when they saw the alien.  It was shouting with rage and knocking people over.  From a distance, he almost looked like an extremely tall and angry victim of a tanning salon accident.

“Everyone calm down and clear the area, move,” Gwen yelled heading away from the alien and towards the panicking shoppers.

Ianto ran to the orange alien and stopped in front of him.  The Doctor hovered nearby, he could see that the alien had violet eyes with slits like a cats.

“Hello,” Ianto said cheerfully.  “You’re big aren’t you?”

The Doctor couldn’t stop himself rolling his eyes.  He was itching to help, to talk to the alien but he couldn’t with Gwen there.  In fact he was surprised the Welshman hadn’t cuffed him in the SUV.

The Alien stepped forward.  Ianto flinched but didn’t move.

“Look I don’t know if you can understand me but I can help you.  Tell me what you need and I will try to get you home,” Ianto said calm and reasonable.

“You dare to speak to a Sarsay.  This place will be cleansed,” the alien shouted.

At the confused look on Ianto’s face, the Doctor realised he hadn’t understood.  With the TARDIS incognito, she hadn’t extended her telepathic field to translate for the Welshman.

“I’m sorry I don’t understand.  If you could just be calm, I’m sure we can find a way to communicate,” Ianto said.

The Welshman was focused on the alien’s eyes.  He didn’t see the knife blade slipping into the Sarsay’s grip.

Before the Doctor could call out, Gwen rugby tackled Ianto out of the way.  The blade sliced into the skin of her shoulder as they rolled in a tangle of limbs.

The alien was focused on them and came towards them with his blade raised.  The Doctor leapt onto the Sarsay’s back pulling it away from Ianto and Gwen.

“I know you couldn’t understand them but I know you can understand me.  I can get you home if...”

The impact of the Sarsay’s head on his nose cut the Doctor off.  The alien pulled the Time Lord off and hurled him away.

The Doctor righted himself and whirled around in time to see it draw a gun in its free hand.  He leapt out of the way of the energy bold but not its shockwave.

The Time Lord felt numb as he hit the ground.  He only had the strength to turn and see the Sarsay aim the weapon at him once more.

Ianto suddenly forced the gun arm up letting the second bolt hit the roofline.  The alien turned its blade towards the Welshman and he grabbed that arm too.

They danced around each other as Ianto struggled to keep both hands from aiming their contents at him.  The alien was trying to use its strength and then its movement to trip the human up.

BANG

A shot rang out, then two more shots.  The Sarsay slumped until it was only Ianto holding it up and he was pitched forward.

Smoke issued from Gwen’s sidearm.  She kept it aimed at the alien until Ianto confirmed that it was dead.

“Are you alright,” they asked simultaneously as they came towards each other.

They both began to laugh.  It was the slightly hysterical laugh of two people who had survived and were coming off an adrenaline high.

Then Gwen winced as she reached for her earpiece.  Ianto immediately slipped the back pack from his shoulders and got out a first aid kit.

He cleaned and dressed the slice in Gwen’s shoulder as she got a status report from the others.

“The other one’s dead too,” Gwen said sadly.

“I’d better start the clean-up,” Ianto replied.  Gwen laid a hand on his arm to stop him.

“I’m not much use at the heavy lifting right now but I can help with the bystanders,” she said quietly.  Apology and a request to let her make a mends shone in her eyes.

“I can’t do much with the body until the others get here with the SUV.  We can both look after the witnesses,” Ianto stated handing over a bottle of pills.

Gwen smiled and he returned it.  Then the ex-PC headed after the milling crowd.

Ianto went to check on the Doctor.  He helped the Time Lord into a more comfortable position while the feeling returned to his limbs.

The Welshman then carefully laid out the corpse and covered it before joining Gwen in retconning the witnesses.

 


	57. Chapter Fifty-seven

For the next few weeks the Rift seemed relentless.  If it wasn’t attempted alien invasions, it was lost tourists.  If there were no Weevils, then there were humans who had found tech they didn’t understand and were using or being used by it.

After the second night where they headed home only to be called back three hours later, Ianto aired some of the rooms in the barracks so that they could rest there.  They didn’t object the first time they were used because they were all too exhausted, afterwards going there became a habit.

After the first week Owen pointed out that they would all burn out soon.  A few hour sleep and a high caffeine, high calorie diet were not doing them any good.

Gwen organised a rota of days off with the promise that they would only be called in an emergency.  She made sure that Tosh and Owen got their days off first.

Ianto volunteered to be last.  Considering his seemingly endless energy, the Doctor could see logic, but when his day came the Welshman only made it to his car before passing out and the Time Lord had to drive him home.

With so many emergencies the work was piling up.  Corpses were having to be frozen for later autopsy, alien tech was given a brief examination and if it seemed inert then it was stored for later study.

Ianto was doing the minimum amount of admin and archiving.  He spent most of those weeks in the field with the others.

The Doctor didn’t like it.  He wanted Ianto Jones to be safe and every day he was put in harm’s way.  Unfortunately, it was obvious that the team needed the extra field agent.

The Time Lord was also resenting being invisible.  He hated having to stand by and watch as the Torchwood team tackled problems that sometimes seemed beyond them.

That didn’t mean he was idle.  He gave Toshiko advice if he thought a piece of alien tech needed to be examined urgently, and helped Ianto tidy up and organise when it looked like the Welshman wasn’t going to rest until he had.

He even had to tend the pair of them on separate occasions when they were injured.  With Tosh it was because Owen was too busy with a medical crisis elsewhere.  With Ianto it was because the medic passed out from exhaustion before anyone knew the Welshman was hurt.

Despite all the hell of those few weeks, they did the one thing that Toshiko and Owen’s plotting and Gwen’s charm failed to do.  They made Ianto Jones a part of the team.

The Doctor was familiar with the bonds formed in combat.  They had to rely on Ianto in combat and he had to rely on them.

It wasn’t really surprising to the Doctor that the Welshman knew their strengths and weaknesses.  They however were a little surprised by, but were quick to learn, some of his.

The Time Lord watched as the friendly banter between Ianto and Tosh was extended to Owen, albeit in a more sarcastic manner.  They joked and teased and insulted each other as though they had been doing it for years.

Only between Ianto and Gwen was there still tension.  The Welshman was polite and friendly to her, and she in return seemed to think carefully before she said anything to him.

There had been no verbal apology yet.  The Doctor could tell that Ianto had given up on ever getting one.  The Time Lord knew that with the Welshman often unsaid things were understood as much as words, and Gwen’s body language screamed that she was sorry and wanted to make thing up.

Ianto wasn’t quite ready to forgive, though he was leaning towards doing so.  The fact that she had saved his life did wonders for giving her a second chance.

After weeks of chaos they were all surprised to wake up from a full night’s sleep to nothing.  They all did quick easy little jobs as though half expecting to be called away from them.

When five o’clock came and still nothing, Gwen ordered that all systems be put on remote alarm sent them all home.  Ianto did the house work then decided to watch telly all evening.  The Doctor joined him and they both fell asleep after an hour.

For the next week the rift seemed relatively calm.  The team began to work on all the things that they had had to put off.

Toshiko divided her time between studying the alien tech they had acquired and creating a new program to see if they could predict potential rift activity.  The Doctor itched to help her, but a look from Ianto told him it was a bad idea.

Despite this calm spell there was a new tension in the air.  Although he hadn’t moved yet, they were all aware that Ianto’s two months were nearly up.

Toshiko, Owen and Gwen all seemed to want to say something, but all chickened out.  Despite Ianto becoming a proper member of the team, even the Doctor was unsure if he would stay or go.

It was the elephant in the room and no one wanted to say anything as it got closer and closer.

 


	58. Chapter Fifty-eight

It was Ianto Jones’ last night as a member of Torchwood.  He hadn’t found a replacement but his period of notice ended in a few hours.

The team had been called out to a Weevil sighting and he wasn’t needed.  So he finished his work for the evening but he didn’t go home.

Ianto was sitting on a wall that lined one of Cardiff’s taller buildings with his legs over the edge.  The Doctor stood next to him leaning against the same wall.

Neither spoke as they looked out at the bright lights of Cardiff.  They were both lost in deep contemplations, both waiting.

“Ianto,” Gwen’s voice seemed both quiet and loud in the stillness.

“Hi,” the Welshman said turning to her as she approached.  “Did the Weevil hunt go well?”

“Yes it’s in the cells,” she answered.

“Good,” he replied turning back to the view of the city.

“Ianto I... I don’t want you to leave,” Gwen said in a rush.

The Welshman looked at her as she stood on the opposite side of him to the Doctor.

“I... I know that I was wrong.  I was upset because Jack left and jealous because of what I saw, and angry because it meant my relationship with Jack wasn’t what I thought.  I... I shouldn’t have called you a whore because you’re not.

“I... I’m an idiot aren’t I?  He’s the exciting alien hunting man of mystery.  He keeps secrets, he doesn’t tell us things and I think I know him,” Gwen was beginning to get angry.

“You don’t have to know everything to know someone,” Ianto said quietly.

“Says the man who manages to be a bigger enigma than Jack,” she retorted.

“It’s the coat.  You see the coat, see the hero and the personality that goes with it.  It hides the man inside.

“I have my suits.  They’re smart, professional, and anonymous, make me difficult to see,” the Welshman told her.

“But Jack saw you and you saw Jack?” she asked and Ianto only smiled sadly.

“I get it, personal and private,” Gwen said softly.

“You think you have secrets Gwen.  The archives are nothing but secrets and they have to be kept, so I keep them all,” Ianto said quietly.

“And you wanted something that was just yours but you could still share,” the ex-PC said with understanding.  Ianto looked at her in surprise.

“You think I had an affair with Owen for his winning personality.  I needed to share my experiences, my feeling about Torchwood with someone and I can’t tell Rhys.

“He’s so good to me.  I don’t know when he stopped being enough.  I love him, I don’t want to lose him, but why wasn’t he enough?” the Welshwoman seemed to be asking the world.

“When you couldn’t tell him everything.  You share a home, share love but you can’t share what’s eating you up inside, why you have to work so hard.  That’s why he can’t understand you anymore.

“Jack didn’t want you to lose your relationship with Rhys.  He wanted you to have a foot in the real world but wouldn’t let you keep that connection firm,” Ianto told her softly.

“What about you?”

Ianto just shrugged and she nodded in understanding.  The Welshman had already been consumed by Torchwood, there was little of the world outside left for him.

“Ianto, we don’t want to own you and you’re not our whore.  I’m sorry I said that.  I’m sorry that I made you feel that way and I’m sorry for not apologising sooner but I was just so…” Gwen shouted, letting out a sound of anger and frustration, but tears were falling.

Ianto swivelled and let her grab him.  She held him and sobbed; gently he put his arms around her and stroked her back.

“I thought when Jack left that I could do this.  Keep the team together, deal with the aliens and their crap.  Encourage Tosh to be brilliant, keep Owen under control focus on getting things done, find out where Jack is.

“Why do you let us ignore you?  Why is it I could only see you to feel jealous anger?  I knew what Jack’s like, why did knowing he was with you feel like such a betrayal?” she raved as she sobbed but the Welshman said nothing.

“Please don’t do this.  Please don’t go.  Torchwood needs you.  Not just anybody who can file and make coffee, you.

“I know we throw so much crap at you and we don’t mean to make you feel like a slave.  But you know how to handle us, what we need even if it isn’t what we want and we need you because of that,” she said looking in his eyes and imploring, trying to pull him away from the wall.

“Wait,” he commanded and she stopped.

Ianto turned away looked up and Gwen and the Doctor followed his gaze.  Despite the glare of orange streetlights below you could see the stars clearly.

Suddenly a shooting star streaked across the sky, then another and another.  Gwen gasped in awe as lights fell towards the earth.

“Meteor shower,” Ianto said quietly.

“Wow,” she said smiling slowly.

“I wanted to make sure they were still beautiful,” Ianto said softly and she turned to him.

“I made Jack a promise, I promised that no matter what happened between us, I would work for Torchwood until I was no longer needed,” Ianto said still looking at the fallen stars.

“What if he was a total bastard to you?” Gwen asked before she could stop herself.

“Then I would make you no longer need me.” Ianto answered with a smile.  He turned his eyes from the stars to look at her.

“Now he’s gone and I was wondering if I was deluding myself.  Did Torchwood really need me, or was it Jack who needed me for a little while.

“I figured out that Torchwood really needed someone, but I wasn’t sure if it was me specifically,” he said then looked back up at the stars.

“They’re still beautiful, I’m still the person Torchwood needs,” Ianto told her solemnly.

Gwen squealed with delight and hugged him.  She dug in her bag and withdrew the folder with Ianto’s report on his relationship with Jack and his resignation letter.

“I went to your house to give them back, and when you weren’t there I traced your cell phone to find you,” she explained.

Ianto tore up the letter and put it in his pocket.  He looked down at the still sealed report.  A brief sad smile flashed across his face.

“What?” she asked.

“I was just wondering if I should keep this in case Jack wanted to read it,” he said sadly.

“You never know, he may come back,” she said encouragingly and he smiled.

He swung his legs over the wall, causing her to momentarily step back, and hopped onto the roof.  He handed Gwen back the report while he unclipped the safety harness he was wearing.

“Thank you,” he said taking his report back.  He then looked up at her and the shock on her face.

“I might be unhappy but I’m not stupid, not that stupid,” he corrected himself as he caressed the folder.  She went to his side and took his arm.

“We’re both a little stupid,” she said the fingers of her free hand caressing the folder.

Ianto smiled at her and they walked towards the door.  The Doctor took a last look at the stars before hurrying to join them.

“Gwen, I need a couple of days off,” Ianto said as they reached the door.

“Oh?” she asked.

“I still have to move into my new flat,” Ianto explained.

“But you’re not leaving now,” she said concerned.

“My house is big and lonely,” Ianto said quietly.

“Too many bad memories,” she asked.

“And good ones,” he answered.

“Tosh said that it looks like it might be quiet tomorrow.  How about we help you move?” Gwen said enthusiastically.

“That would be wonderful,” Ianto said sincerely.

Behind them both the Doctor smiled.  He could tell the Welshman would rather face an alien invasion than have them help, but he was too polite, to compassionate, to break the delicate bridge built between them by refusing her.

 


	59. Chapter Fifty-nine

Ianto woke up at his usual time filled with nervous energy.  He ate breakfast, showered and dressed quickly.

He packed the last of his things away and inspected his flat.  He was checking that he hadn’t missed anything and that it was all spotlessly clean.

The Welshman didn’t pause until he stood in front of the TARDIS.  He was looking at it with concern and waited for the ship’s owner to join him.

Ianto looked at the Doctor then back at the ship several times.  He then went away and grabbed a large sheet.  The young man stroked the TARDIS reassuringly before covering it with the sheet and securing it with rope.

The Welshman took a last tour of the house.  The Time Lord watched as he looked into each room and searched his mind for a happy memory he was leaving behind.

Toshiko arrived before the removal men with a hamper.  Ianto looked surprised and delighted as the technical genius smiled smugly.

It wasn’t a large removal van.  Ianto was only taking his personal things, most of the furniture was being left for his new tenants.

Gwen arrived while they were loading up carrying a pot plant.  Ianto smiled in delight as she explained that it was one of those hardy, easy to look after plants.

Owen turned up just as they finished and he wasn’t carrying anything.  The girls both scolded him and he grumbled that he hadn’t wanted to be there in the first place.

Ianto thanked him for turning up anyway, which placated the medic slightly.  Owen volunteered to follow the removal van while the others went ahead and opened up the flat.

Alone in Ianto’s car the Doctor could see the Welshman’s hesitation.

“At least they are only helping out and have their own homes to go to afterwards.  Most of the time I have guests they tend to stay for a while,” the Doctor said trying to cheer him up.  The irony of that sentence was not lost on Ianto, and he smiled as the Time Lord realised that he was still Ianto’s guest and still hadn’t left.

Ianto let Tosh and Gwen into his new flat.  The technical genius was inspecting it with approval, she was glad that the money Jack had set aside was being put to good use.

Gwen was viewing it with a mixture of appreciation and envy but she said nothing.  The Doctor caught her looking at Ianto, seeing the Welshman nervously inspect his new home and her envy faded.

Owen and the removal men arrived and they began unloading the boxes and taking them inside.  Ianto’s clothes, more personal things and the TARDIS were carried straight into the bedroom.

They began to unpack everything else and put it where the Welshman directed.  The Doctor corrected the location of a few items when no one was looking to save Ianto from doing it later.

Just after noon Toshiko got her hamper and they set it out in Ianto’s new lounge.  There was wine as well as sandwiches, crisps, fruit and cake.

Soon they were merrily eating and drinking and telling tales of their various experiences moving house.  It was nice for the Doctor to see the bonds that had been formed over the last weeks getting stronger over a relaxing lunch.

They didn’t get much more work done as they had their indoor picnic.  They spent the afternoon talking and drinking, although they switched from the wine to fruit juice and lemonade.

It was half past four before they realised they had spent the whole afternoon talking and not helping Ianto settle in.  The Welshman assured them that he didn’t mind, and Gwen promised him that he could have tomorrow off to compensate with no argument from the other two.

They kept talking for another hour before deciding that they should all go out to the pub for dinner.  The five of them explored the area around Ianto’s new flat before finding somewhere that looked nice.

The Doctor sat himself at a nearby table when they finally chose a pub.  He went and ordered food separately as, even though both Ianto and Toshiko accepted his presence, he didn’t want to risk time further by having Owen or Gwen find out.

As the evening progressed though, the Time Lord felt more and more left out.  He felt less like Ianto’s watchful guardian and more like a wandering stranger.

He had achieved the mission the TARDIS had set him.  Ianto was firmly a member of the Torchwood team; he had them to look after him now.

History would be played the way it should.  Ianto was a man ready for both his futures, the one that would be prevented, and the one where Jack returned.

The Doctor though wasn’t quite ready to leave.  There was one more thing he had to know, one more thing to ease his conscience before he could let this brilliant human go.

He sat back nursing his pint of lemonade and listening to Jack’s people laughing and joking and waited.


	60. Chapter Sixty

The Doctor leaned against his TARDIS as he watched Ianto sleep.  The Welshman’s slumber was peaceful, which was good, because tonight it didn’t feel right to sit on the bed beside him.

He wasn’t supposed to do what he was about to do.  It wasn’t something he liked doing for himself but he needed to, just this once.

Ianto Jones was so young for so much to happen to him.  Even knowing he prevented one terrible fate, it did not stop him feeling guilty about it.  He had to be sure that the fate left for Ianto Jones was the right one.

He could feel the TARDIS as a reassuring presence, encouraging him to do this.  He closed his eyes and felt around for the future.

Light hit his eyelids and he opened them before he heard the sound of laughter.  He realised he only had himself to blame for the setting before him.

Ianto Jones was leaning over Jack Harkness kissing him.  Jack’s arms were around him and, though both covered from the waist down, the Doctor could tell it was only with the sheet.

On Ianto’s back stood out a set of letters written in a future language.  They were the letters that the Time Lord had once stroked to calm the Welshman down but they hadn’t been visible before.

They were pulsing now from invisible to dark to the rhythm of an excited heartbeat.  They weren’t ugly either in fact they were strangely beautiful.

“No more distracting stories we have to go to work,” Ianto said, breaking off from the kiss and the letters on his back faded.

“There’s no hurry Tosh said it was going to be a quiet day,” Jack said pulling Ianto down to kiss him again but the Welshman resisted.

“And you said that you would pick out some unclassified artefacts for the team to examine,” Ianto reminded him.

“I thought we had a rule about no shop talk in bed,” Jack said suddenly rolling the pair of them over so that he was now above Ianto and kissing him.

“Well, I have to make some of the important backlog of work seem more interesting somehow,” Ianto replied mischievously.

“Mr. Jones you just have to wear your cute suit and the burgundy shirt and you’ll have all the attention you want,” the older man answered leaning down to kiss the younger man’s neck.

“Your full attention maybe but no classified artefacts,” Ianto replied with a slight moan.

Jack suddenly stopped.  Ianto looked confused as the immortal slid off him pulling the sheet more firmly around them.  The Welshman waited for Jack to turn to face him.

“Do you regret it?” Jack asked a little nervously playing with the cloth.

“Regret what?” Ianto asked confused.

“Taking me back.  The way I behaved with Gwen and Rhys, the fact that we still haven’t managed to have a proper, interruption free date.  I mean I’m not really...” Jack was silenced by a finger on his lips.

“No,” Ianto said simply and shuffled closer.  “Letting someone into your heart it’s about taking a chance.  Fabulousness and flaws I know many of yours and I still want to take the chance, give you a chance.

“I’ve made my bed Jack and I’m going to lie beside you in it, or beneath you, or above you,” Ianto said moving above his lover again.  “Maybe wiggle a bit,” he added moving his hips beneath the sheets.

“I love it when you wiggle,” Jack said his voice dripping with lust.

“Really?” Ianto asked with innocent surprise.  Jack growled and pulled Ianto to him in a passionate kiss.

As the Doctor slipped his sight away from the future to the present he saw the letters on Ianto’s back had returned.  He knew now that they weren’t a brand of ownership, they were a mark of mutual love between both men.

As the darkness of the night returned the Time Lord smiled.  _It’s nearly time,_ he thought to himself as he slipped inside the TARDIS.

 


	61. Chapter Sixty-One

When the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS the next morning it was after dawn and the bed was empty.   He had been checking the time ship’s systems and hadn’t realised that how long he had taken.

Though the bedroom door though he could smell fruit and hot sugar.  Intrigued the Time Lord followed his nose.

Most of boxes that had been left over from yesterday still hadn’t been unpacked.  Ianto was in the kitchen slaving away over the source of the fruit smell.

There was a set of jam jars in a card board box.  They were obviously the fruits of Ianto’s labour and the Time Lord went over to inspect.

“Don’t touch them you’ll scold yourself,” Ianto said without turning around.

“Whatcha making?” the Time Lord asked sitting by the counter.

“Marmalade,” Ianto replied.

“Really?” the Doctor asked trying to sound politely interested rather than tempted to pinch a jar.

“Yes they’re for you.  I also got you some bananas and I made you some lemonade and tea,” Ianto said turning at last from his pan to face the Time Lord.

There were a hundred ways to respond to that statement.  A hundred ways to interpret it, but this was Ianto Jones and he had gotten to know the Welshman quite well.

“They are still beautiful.  The other night when we were looking at the stars, they are still beautiful and I want to see every single one of them,” The Doctor confessed quietly.

Ianto smiled and went back to making his marmalade.

“You knew?” the Doctor said in shock.

“It’s amazing what perspective you can get when you have a gun to the back of your head,” Ianto said calmly then added, “you did my filing for me.”

“I was trying to help out,” the Time Lord protested feeling defensive.  There was no judgement or anger in Ianto’s face as he looked back.

“You did it perfectly.  You edited a few entries, but then that is the prerogative of archivist, and you followed my instructions perfectly.

“You’re from a highly sophisticated technological society, you’re a scientific genius, you understand laws and rules.  But you have the soul of an artist and you know when to bend and break them.

“You’re not a mix Hydrochloric Acid and Sodium Hydroxide to make salt and water kind of man.  You’re a lead into gold man.”

“That is scientifically impossible,” the Doctor protested.

“If you were ever feeling stupid enough to give it a try, you would succeed,” Ianto told him firmly as he poured the marmalade mixture into jam jars that he had retrieved from the oven.

“The point is that you aren’t a person that does what he’s told, who follows a set of instructions when making a book case.  You are a, figure it out as you go along person who then wonder why there were so many screws left over, person.

“Even with my knowledge from the archives I don’t pretend to know a tenth of your adventures.  All the wonderful and terrible things you must have experienced.

“I do however know how to hide when it becomes too much.  How to be dead inside while I wait for rebirth.

“Maybe if Torchwood doesn’t work out I should run a hotel for disillusioned time travellers,” Ianto said quietly.

“Don’t...” but the protest was stopped by the teasing smile on Ianto’s lips.

“I feel like I’ve used you,” the Doctor said quietly.

“I needed you too,” Ianto reminded him gently.  “You may have needed a rest from your adventurous life, but I needed a companion to share my small one with while I figured out my place in life.  And you have been good company, a good friend.”

“I...” the Doctor felt silent as he let Ianto’s words sink in.

After the year that never was, the disaster aboard the Starship Titanic, Astrid’s death he had wanted to stop being himself.  Stop being the one everybody relied on.

The TARDIS had given him the problem of Ianto Jones to deal with.  A human being whose worst, and some of his best, moments he was partially responsible for.

He got to share in an invisible life.  Got to find out secrets, learn new things, meet fascinating people and aliens with only a minimum amount of danger and running.

He learnt how to do housework, file and make fantastic coffee.  He got to see darkness and hope.

He got a chance to heal and be healed in return.  He had been allowed to rest, and then discover that the universe could be beautiful again.

Soft fingers brushed away tears.  Gentle lips kissed his forehead to reassure him that he was ready.

“I’m not really a big one for goodbyes,” the Doctor said.

“Then you should have left last night but then you wouldn’t have gotten any marmalade or jam,” Ianto pointed out and they both smiled.

“Besides you can’t say goodbye to someone who isn’t really here,” there was teasing in Ianto’s words and it was wonderful to hear.

“Ianto...” he began not able to stand it, not able to know the dark future and say nothing despite seeing the happiness of last night.

“You can’t tell me,” Ianto interrupted and hastily grabbed the bananas and two flasks and piled them on the box of jars and headed for his bedroom.

“Ianto.”

“You don’t do goodbyes,” the Welshman said stopping outside the TARDIS.  “I only merit one because you want to warn me, even though it would only take a hint to change the future and we can’t risk that.

“I work for Torchwood.  I have to face the darkness and the light with no more preparation than my wits and experience, like you do.

“When I tried to save Lisa, I risked not only Cardiff but the whole universe to Cyber invasion.  I was blind with love and grief and I needed the others to stop me.

“Afterwards I told Jack that hypocritical, though it was, I didn’t want anyone to risk one life let alone the universe for me.  I am not worth either,” Ianto told him with the same earnestness that would one day speak of a fate accepted, a fate that the Time Lord had already prevented.

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders in defeat under such determination.  Ianto handed the box of jars over.

“Go out and turn a universe of lead into gold,” the Welshman said kissing the Time Lord’s forehead once more and turning away.

Ianto left the room and the Doctor heard the sound of the TV turning on.  He leaned the box against the TARDIS and opened the door.

Settling his gift down, he walked to the console and began pushing the buttons for take-off.  He could feel his vessel’s shared sadness, but she moved away from this time that she was not meant to visit smoothly.

He walked away from the console room and headed for the library.  He suddenly had a need to reorganise some chaos.

 

From his lounge Ianto heard the rasp of the engines and whispered.  “Goodbye, until we next meet.”

“Some surprising news just in,” the anchor of the television said not really getting the Welshman’s attention.  “With just a month until the general election, Harold Saxon has confirmed that he will be breaking away from the main party and forming his own.  He will be taking many people from both sides of the house with him and our experts believe that this could lead to his victory...”

Ianto didn’t care about politics today so he changed the channel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you enjoyed this story. The next story if you follow the either the Company Series or Awaiting Universe links will be Company of a Ghost. As there are things in that story that not everyone wants to read, if you follow the Company of a Stranger link you will be able to read a one shot which has the conversation between the Doctor and Tosh from Chapter Twenty-one which tells you what happened without the details. If you would like to read that conversation and Company of a Ghost there will be links to allow you to do this (indeed if you are reading using the Company of Ghosts and Strangers link so that you follow events from the Doctor's POV then that conversation is next.  
> After these two there is a one-shot story which can be read as a stand alone but is connected to this story and there is the Epilogue for both stories to come.


End file.
